The White House and the public alike appear to be descending into a strange game of Clue following the publication of by an anonymous 鈥渟enior official in the Trump administration,鈥� which spoke of a 鈥渞esistance鈥� movement from within aimed at thwarting the president鈥檚 worst-laid plans.
Was it Chief of Staff John Kelly penning his grievances in the corner office down the hall from the Oval Office? Maybe it was Trump鈥檚 clever White House counselor Kellyanne Conway shaping a new narrative for the American public in a way that only she knows how?
As U.S. President Donald Trump and calls for the 鈥渇ailing鈥� New York Times to unmask the 鈥溾�� as a matter of national security, those in his inner circle are scrambling to deny their involvement.
A number of prominent government officials have been quick to tout their innocence a day after the op-ed鈥檚 publication, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Intelligence Dan Coats, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
As the finger-pointing begins, here is what we know about the possible author so far.
Clues:
Political pundits and internet sleuths alike have scrutinized the writing style, grammar, and vocabulary of the op-ed writer in the hopes of identifying the responsible party.
In fact, some political watchers have said it鈥檚 only a matter of time before the author is revealed thanks to forensic linguistics. That鈥檚 what happened to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, whose anonymity was uncovered by stylometry science that analyzed her writing style.
Em dashes
The use of em dashes throughout the piece were pointed to as the possible marker of someone with a professional background in writing by online commenters on social media. However, others were quick to counter that theory and suggest the editors at the newspaper were responsible for the grammatical additions.
Lodestar
As for the wording itself, the use of 鈥渓odestar鈥� in the op-ed鈥檚 second last paragraph has created a firestorm of accusations targeting the vice president because of his penchant for using the uncommon term.
鈥淲e may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example 鈥� a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue,鈥� the anonymous author wrote.
Pence has employed the word 鈥渓odestar,鈥� , on numerous occasions throughout his political career.
Audio producer Dan Bloom even went to great lengths to track down the times the vice president used the word in various speeches and documents in . He discovered that Pence has been regularly using lodestar since at least 2001.
The popular theory has even inspired a trending hashtag #lodestar on Twitter, with some users even injecting the word into their profile names.
Despite the connection, many users played the devil鈥檚 advocate and observed that someone could have purposefully planted the word in the op-ed knowing that it would draw attention to Pence.
The Washington Post even suggested the piece was a final 鈥渁ct of defiance鈥� by the late Sen. John McCain whose fraught relationship with Trump was well known as was his tendency to use the word lodestar.
National security
The column鈥檚 references to Trump鈥檚 foreign policy record and his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un along with the comments on Sen. John McCain have led some to believe the administration official must be someone working in national security.
In fact, that Trump himself suspects the author works on national security files or in the Justice Department according to two people familiar with his private discussions.
Gender slip up
The New York Times may have let slip one important clue about the writer鈥檚 identity when the newspaper tweeted a link to the op-ed.
鈥淚n an anonymous Op-Ed, a senior Trump administration official says he and others are working to frustrate the president鈥檚 鈥渕isguided impulses,鈥� .
The use of the 鈥渉e鈥� pronoun in the tweet appeared to rule out any female administration officials; however, the newspaper later said the message was written in error and by 鈥渟omeone who is not aware of the author鈥檚 identity, including the gender.鈥�
Motives
Jeff Sessions
Trump鈥檚 much-maligned attorney general Jeff Sessions has been singled out as an obvious choice for someone with motive to write a piece condemning the president. Trump has publicly criticized Sessions for failing to rein in special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and has repeatedly questioned his ability to do his job as the head of the Justice Department.
Steffen Schmidt, a political science professor at Iowa State University, said Sessions certainly has reason to be upset with Trump.
鈥淛eff Sessions, the poor attorney general who has been beaten bloody by the president would have an axe to grind,鈥� he told 麻豆传媒 Channel on Thursday.
Mike Pence
Despite his reverent demeanour towards Trump, some experts have suggested Pence wrote the piece to further his own political ambitions of becoming president one day. However, as mentioned above, Pence鈥檚 deputy chief of staff and communications director has denied the claims.
Betsy DeVos
Along the same vein as Pence, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos鈥� name has also been put forth as the author because she has been considered a possible candidate for vice president in certain circles. Schmidt said he has heard talk that DeVos would make a 鈥渨onderful鈥� vice president if she were to run.
鈥淪o if President Trump were to maybe have to resign and Mike Pence were president, she could be nominated and be an important Republican woman,鈥� Schmidt said.
John Kelly
Trump鈥檚 chief of staff John Kelly has been mentioned as the possible columnist because of his reportedly frayed relationship with the president. In longtime journalist Bob Woodward鈥檚 explosive new book 鈥淔ear: Trump in the White House,鈥� which was released this week, Kelly is quoted calling Trump an 鈥渋diot鈥� and 鈥渦nhinged.鈥� Kelly has since denied saying those things.
