First Lady Melania Trump accused the author of an anonymous attack on her husband in the op-ed pages of The New York Times of 'sabotaging' the country.
The article's author, who is known to the newspaper but described only as a senior administration official, portrayed President Donald Trump as "amoral" and reckless, and said a "quiet resistance" had formed among top aides to thwart his most misguided actions.
"People with no names are writing our nation's history," the first lady said in a statement. "Words are important, and accusations can lead to severe consequences."
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in the Oval Office of the White House. Source: AAP
She added that anyone bold enough to make such accusations should "stand by their words" rather than hiding behind anonymity.
"To the writer of the op-ed -- you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions," she said.
White House spokesperson Sanders urges people to call NYT over op-ed
Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders urged people to call the New York Times' Op-Ed phone number to uncover the identity of the anonymous author.
In a message posted on Twitter, she condemned the publication of the article and posted the phone number of the New York Times' opinion desk.
"Nearly 62 million people voted for President Donald J. Trump in 2016," the tweet said. "None of them voted for a gutless, anonymous source to the failing New York Times."
“If you want to know who this gutless loser is, call the opinion desk of the failing NYT. They are the only ones complicit in this deceitful act. We stand united together and fully support our President Donald J. Trump.”
Mr Trump used a similar tactic of leaking the mobile phone number of critics during the 2016 campaign, forcing South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham to change his number.
Ethics chief says Sarah Sanders should be fire over tweet
Two former White House ethics chiefs said Ms Sander's tweet violates federal ethics laws and the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Richard Painter was a chief ethics lawyer under former president George W. Bush. He said Mrs Sanders action is misuse of her official position and she should be fired.
"A press secretary who attacks a newspaper in this manner, and encourages rabid partisans to harass the newspaper, is misusing her official position," Mr Painter's tweet read.
"This is a direct affront to the First Amendment. She should be fired. But then again her boss does even worse. Disgusting."
Chairman of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Norm Eisen, said Ms Sanders' tweet is breach of federal ethics law.
He was also an ethics official under ex-President Barack Obama.
“A government official inciting the public to flood the phones of a private corporation & media outlet with harassing calls--openly interfering with its work--is a violation of the prohibition on "Misuse of Position" in 5 CFR 2635.702,” Eisen said in the tweet. “Oh, the 1st Amendment is kinda relevant too.”
The Times has said it will be maintaining the anonymity of the author because he or she is “a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.”
The unsigned piece appeared to reinforce the claims made in the new book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward, which describes a virtual cabal of like-minded White House and cabinet officials scheming to prevent Trump from taking decisions damaging to the US economy and national security.
The writer of the Times op-ed suggests that dissent and resistance inside Trump's White House are even deeper than Woodward described.
The official said that early on in the administration, some officials quietly discussed invoking the 25th amendment of the US Constitution, which allows the removal of a president judged unable to perform his duties.
"But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until -- one way or another -- it's over."
- with AFP.
