Anonymous New York Times op-ed sparks frenzy of amateur linguists, sleuths

The release of ananonymous op-ed in the New York Times froma senior Trump administration official slamming the U.S. president has White House staffers, political punditsand journalists racingto try and uncover the writer's identity.

The op-ed titled"I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" claims to be written by someone who, along with other "like-minded colleagues," has "vowed to thwart parts" of Donald Trump's agenda and "his worst inclinations."

White House aides have reportedly launched an internal search for the individual, adding to the search already underway for those who were sources for Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward's upcoming tell-all book,Fear: Trump in the White House.

All that the Times will admitregardingthe author's identityis that it is a "senior official in the Trump administration."

James Dao, the newspaper's op-ed editor,told the Times' podcast The Dailythat the author contacted the paper through an intermediary.

'Very small number'

Daowould not expand on the definition of "senior official" and said only a"very small number" of people at the New York Times knows the author's identity.

(The op-edhas also put the New York Times in a weirdpositionof its reporterstrying to uncover the identity of someone known by other senior staff.)

The mystery writer has sparked wild speculation, similar to the frenzy to learn the identity of Woodward and Carl Bernstein's mysterious Watergate source, Deep Throat, who was later to be revealed to be FBI associate director Mark Felt.

Trump himself, according to the Post, thinks the anonymous official works on national security issues or in the Justice Department.

Social media has been flooded with theories and counter-theories as to the author's identity, with speculationranging from Vice-President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White Housecounsellor Kellyanne Conway,to Trump's own daughter,Ivanka, or his wife, Melania.

Political observers have becomeamateur forensic linguists, as they pore over any possible stylistic clues in the piecethat might give away the author's identity.

As Newsweek suggested,the senior official references "we" in the context of "Trump appointees," suggesting the author could be a cabinet member.

Many have zeroed in on one particular word lodestar used in the op-edto praise the late Sen. John McCain. That word, say some of these new amateur sleuths, is one often used in speeches given by Pence, meaning it could be either the vice-president or possibly his speechwriter.

Robert Leonard, a linguist at New York's Hofstra University, who is often retained by defendants and prosecutors in criminal cases involving threats, plagiarism and libel, told the Washington Post: "A problem with public people is that a lot of their published work is edited, so it's like mixing fingerprints or DNA.You don't always know who the real author is."

Watch U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence use the word "lodestar" in several speeches over the years:

Loaded language

6 years ago

Duration 0:21

Footage of U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence using the word 'lodestar' over the years. The word has been interpreted as a possible clue to the identity of the White House insider who wrote an anonymous opinion piece in the New York Times.

'Throws the scent off'

However, it's possible, too, as noted in a recentAxiosstory about White Houseleakers, that the person who wrote the article purposely included certain words tocover his or her tracks.

As oneleakertoldAxios:"I usually pay attention to other staffers' idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me."

But Daosaid it never occurred to him to change a word to help hide the identity of the author.

The article has prompted swift denials of authorship from a number of senior officials.

A spokesperson for Pence dismissed any notion that the vice-president had written the article, writing that "the vice-president puts his name on his op-eds" and that "our office is above such amateur acts."

Other senior officials,includingU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,Defence Secretary James Mattis, U.S. Ambassadorto the UN Nikki Haleyand National Intelligence Director Dan Coats, also stated they were not behindthe piece.

Despite his denial, however, sleuths seem to be pointing to Coatsas one of the leading contenders.

Underthat theory, Michael Socolow,a communications professor at the University of Maine, outlined a six-point argument on Twitter, includingthat Coatspublicly laughedat Trump when he was told the U.S. presidentwanted to invite Vladimir Putin to the White House.

But the most important clue?

"He worked very well [with]Colorado Senator Michael Bennet while in the Senate. That's the brother of the NY Times opinion editor, James Bennet," Socolowtweeted.

'100swould qualify'

Others believe the writer may very well be someone that no one has ever heard of.

Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post's fact-checker, seized on Dao'sexplanation of how the New York Timesdecided to describe the author. Dao said:"I feel that we followed a definition that has been used by our newsroom in the past."

"This suggests Anonymous is not member of Cabinet or senior WH official, in which case it should not have been printed. 100s would qualify under this rubric," Kessler tweeted.

White Housepress secretarySarah Sanders had her own advice "for those of you asking for the identity of the anonymous coward." Sanders tweeted that the media's"wild obsession" with the identity is "recklessly tarnishing" the reputation of thousands of "great Americans."

"If you want to know who this gutless loser is, call the opinion desk of the failing NYT."