U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Acting Chairman Marco Rubio, R-Fla., released the following statement on Thursday after Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, identified himself as the anonymous member of the Trump administration who wrote an op-ed hitting the president:
“It is often said that a lie can fly halfway around the world while the truth is just getting its boots on. A free and fair press is one of the strongest bulwarks our nation has against disinformation, but that press must be honest, thorough, and deserving.
“In 2018, the New York Times published an opinion piece by a ‘senior official in the Trump administration.’ Granting anonymity, it said, was ‘an extraordinary step’ for the paper. Many Americans, logically, assumed the piece came from a senior official in the Trump administration. In fact, it came from a policy advisor at the Department of Homeland Security who, at the time of the opinion piece’s publication, was not even listed on the Department of Homeland Security’s website as a member of that agency’s leadership.
“This is the type of click-bait, outrage journalism that has caused so many Americans to become cynical about our nation’s institutions. As our enemies try to divide us, it is more important than ever to call out this type of reckless and irresponsible behavior. Portraying this opinion piece to the nation as the thoughts of a senior official in the Trump administration was a grotesque failure of journalism. And, in undermining the faith our nation has in an objective press, it harmed our national security.”
Author
