Who's The Senior WH Official That Threatened Bob Woodward?
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Bob Woodward said a "very senior person" at the White House had threatened him about his sequester reporting via email, which John Sexton reports happened after that person yelled at him on the phone for half an hour. Woodward, so far, has refused to reveal who that White House official is.
These types of threats and intimidation designed to silence Obama's critics have been going on since (at least) the '08 campaign.
You may remember Sharyl Attkisson told Laura Ingraham on her radio show in October, 2011, that "a guy from the White House literally screamed" at her and "cussed" at her over the phone. She told Ingraham that person was WH communications flack, Eric Schultz, but since Bob Woodward indicated that it is a "very senior person" that eliminates Schultz.
Here's Obama's top White House staff:
"a very
senior person" at the White House had warned him that he would "regret
doing this" - See more at:
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/02/27/White-House-Tells-Bob-Woodward-You-Will-Regret-Doing-This-The-Video#disqus_thread
"a very
senior person" at the White House had warned him that he would "regret
doing this" - See more at:
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/02/27/White-House-Tells-Bob-Woodward-You-Will-Regret-Doing-This-The-Video#disqus_threadidn't want to divulge who the culprit was
- Chief of Staff Denis McDonough
- Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors
- Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco
- Counselor to the President Peter Rouse
- Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett
- Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer
Let the guessing games begin!
UPDATE:
Via Reuters, the shouter and threatening emailer has been identified as Gene Sperling, head of the National
Economic Council.
Woodward's account of his recent testy exchange with the
White House points to continued sensitivity over the issue of
whose idea the sequester was.
A White House official said in an emailed response to
Reuters that no threat was intended by the comment.
"The email from the aide was sent to apologize for voices
being raised in their previous conversation," the aide said.
"The note suggested that Mr. Woodward would regret the
observation he made regarding the sequester because that
observation was inaccurate, nothing more."
The BuzzFeed news website identified the official who
tangled with Woodward as Gene Sperling, head of the National
Economic Council. The White House did not respond to a request
to confirm the identity of the official.
Yes, the Buzzfeed story was written by Ben "nothing to see here" Smith.