# Taking Bets: Who is the 'insider' who wrote the NYT Opinion Piece? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 6, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852 "2018-09-06T01:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/161 "2018-09-12T00:09:25Z")
I’m guessing John Kelly. The circumstances that led him to do it are extreme fatigue, disgust, and a weak-minded thought process. My take is that he misjudged the cowards he works with and thought he would have an eager or at least willing group of high ranking officials that would begin looking for a 25th amendment path to restoring sanity. But he was way wrong and now he is sweating and just waiting to be outed. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/162 "2018-09-12T16:02:49Z")
I don’t think it’s Kelly. Sure, he’s part of the conspiracy to keep Trump from fucking up. Of course he is. But he’s not the type to write this letter. He knew going in that this would trash his reputation, and decided that protecting the country was more important. And the letter makes it harder to quietly protect the country from Trump, not easier. So it’s not Kelly. And it’s not Pence either. Pence wants to be president after Trump is gone. He’s the VP, he can’t be fired. He’s got a plausible path to the Presidency after Trump quits or is fired, but none of those paths include trashing Trump. You’re never going to win the election by betraying Trump because that means the deplorables are never going to support you. ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/163 "2018-09-12T18:08:00Z")
I, along with most of the anti-trump crowd, will be following this story closely and I guess, eventually, we will find out who wrote it. My rationale for this unlikely guess is not deeply rooted in the idea that the person made a careful decision. It is possible that the writer submitted the piece in a state of anger, desperation, and fatigue, along with a dash of outsized self-importance. Or, he could have really thought, based on “insider” talk, that most of his WH associates, would begin the 25th Amendment process. I have zero confidence in Kelly’s adherence to any sort of allegiance to a moral code or military code. He is pretty much a bigot who somehow rose within a system that rewards that sort of dead-end thinking. Who knows…? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/164 "2019-10-22T19:36:44Z")
Update: [The author of the anonymous op-ed is back! And this time with an entire book that picks up “from where those first words of warning left off.”](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/anonymous-trump-official-book/index.html) > [@CNN](#): > > The anonymous senior Trump administration official whose 2018 New York Times op-ed was called treasonous by President Donald Trump has written a new book about Trump titled “A Warning” that will be published next month, CNN has learned. > > CNN has exclusively obtained a cover of the book, which has been a closely guarded secret until now and will be released November 19 by Twelve, a division of the Hachette Book Group. The author will remain anonymous, and sources familiar with the book tell CNN that “elaborate precautions have been taken to protect the author’s identity.” > > The sources say that the publisher and the author’s literary agents at Javelin were provided verification that the author is the same person who penned the Times op-ed, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” on September, 5, 2018. > > … > > “The Author of A WARNING refused the chance at a seven figure advance and intends to donate a substantial amount of any royalties to the White House Correspondents Association and other organizations that fight for a free press that seeks the truth,” Latimer said, adding that the book “was not written by the author lightly, or for the purpose of financial enrichment. It has been written as an act of conscience and of duty.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/165 "2019-10-22T19:44:30Z")
KellyAnne is ending the grift she and her husband have been on. That’s my guess. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/166 "2019-10-22T19:47:42Z")
You know, on one hand I’d like to read this book. But on the other hand, if I ever find out that she wrote it, I’ll feel dirty. Like, a shower won’t help dirty. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/167 "2019-10-22T23:02:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > KellyAnne is ending the grift she and her husband have been on. That’s my guess. Agree! And she’s used him to funnel her essay and her book to the publishers (George writes scathing stuff about Trump all the time. Her drafts could be passed off as his). ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/168 "2019-10-23T01:22:37Z")
My theory always was that it was Coates. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/169 "2019-10-23T01:59:45Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Update: [The author of the anonymous op-ed is back! And this time with an entire book that picks up “from where those first words of warning left off.”](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/anonymous-trump-official-book/index.html) It’s Joe Klein, obviously. (author of Primary Colors) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/170 "2019-10-23T03:16:15Z")
It’s… TRUMP HIMSELF! The ultimate money making scam. ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/171 "2019-10-23T07:23:24Z")
How’s the line on Kirstjen Nielsen moving, after [her speech at the _FORTUNE_ Most Powerful Women Summit](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/kirstjen-nielsen-speech/index.html)? I might throw a Jefferson on her, unless the odds have come down below 10-1. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/172 "2019-10-23T14:05:22Z")
I’ll put a nickel on Ivanka. I’m reasonably sure it isn’t Ben Carson. I’m sure we’ll find out eventually. I’m glad the book is coming out, now I can give my kids a gift idea for my Christmas list. Promises to be a good read. This administration is without doubt a complete disaster, but it should make for some great reading when all the postmortems are written. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/173 "2019-10-23T15:30:17Z")
An anonymous tell-all book about the White House may as well be fiction. If you have zero idea who wrote it, how can one vouch for its veracity? How can one know the author had the access they claim they have/had? Anyway, not going to spend any time reading, I’ll just read the react. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/174 "2019-10-23T15:59:53Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > An anonymous tell-all book about the White House may as well be fiction. If you have zero idea who wrote it, how can one vouch for its veracity? How can one know the author had the access they claim they have/had? > > Anyway, not going to spend any time reading, I’ll just read the react. However, I think there’s a decent reason to believe that pretty much everyone working for Trump is actually a Never-Trumper who decided personal ambition was more important. It’s like a game of Clue where everyone is a suspect in a killing, as opposed to your starting point of whether the murder is fake news or not. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/175 "2019-10-23T16:22:37Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > However, I think there’s a decent reason to believe that pretty much everyone working for Trump is actually a Never-Trumper who decided personal ambition was more important. > > It’s like a game of Clue where everyone is a suspect in a killing, as opposed to your starting point of whether the murder is fake news or not. “Miss Conway…in the Roosevelt Room…with a tape recorder!” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/176 "2019-10-23T18:27:40Z")
At this point, I can see the logic that persons in Cabinet departments and so forth - the parts of the Executive Branch that have responsibilities to fulfill, regardless of who is President and what their agenda is - need to stay in place. But those who work at the White House itself? All they’re doing is enabling Trump. If they all quit, he’d be helpless. AFAIAC, anyone who’s still working there isn’t part of the ‘resistance,’ they’re only fooling themselves if they believe that. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/177 "2019-10-23T18:33:28Z")
And maybe instead of writing a book first, first take your concerns to the FBI, CIA, NSA, what have you. (I suppose that it’s possible that that HAS been done, and somehow swept under the rug by Barr…) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/178 "2019-10-23T19:00:00Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > KellyAnne is ending the grift she and her husband have been on. That’s my guess. Nah. The Conway Grift is, one stays in the White House as a loyal Trumpist, the other is super critical of Trump. That way, whichever way this administration shakes out, they’ve got a guaranteed job. If Trump doesn’t get removed in disgrace, Kellyanne cleans up as one of his most loyal and longest-serving minions, and she and George make bank on that association. If Trump resigns/is impeached/goes to prison, and everyone who worked for him becomes professionally toxic, she “retires” and George cleans up on the lecture circuit as “the Republican who was right about Trump all along.” ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/179 "2019-10-23T20:46:16Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But those who work at the White House itself? All they’re doing is enabling Trump. If they all quit, he’d be helpless. AFAIAC, anyone who’s still working there isn’t part of the ‘resistance,’ they’re only fooling themselves if they believe that. It gives me great joy to know that Mick “I’m gonna let Trump be Trump” Mulvaney had been acting Chief of Staff for only 7 months before Trump being Trump did stupid shit that will lead to his impeachment. God, if only Lyin’ Mick could have taken the job in January 2017… ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852/180 "2019-10-24T13:48:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Nah. The Conway Grift is, one stays in the White House as a loyal Trumpist, the other is super critical of Trump. That way, whichever way this administration shakes out, they’ve got a guaranteed job. If Trump doesn’t get removed in disgrace, Kellyanne cleans up as one of his most loyal and longest-serving minions, and she and George make bank on that association. If Trump resigns/is impeached/goes to prison, and everyone who worked for him becomes professionally toxic, she “retires” and George cleans up on the lecture circuit as “the Republican who was right about Trump all along.” This, but with the added benefit that the spouse who loses will claim that they were working for the winning side the whole time. I fully expect Kelly Anne Conway to maker her return to polite society by claiming that she was a spy the whole time, but in reality, she’s just seeing which way the wind blows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-bets-who-is-the-insider-who-wrote-the-nyt-opinion-piece/820852.md?page=10)