In response to Woodward: WH Aide ‘Yelled at Me’ for Half Hour:
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:
- 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 NationalEconomic Council.
Woodward’s account of his recent testy exchange with theWhite House points to continued sensitivity over the issue ofwhose idea the sequester was.
A White House official said in an emailed response toReuters that no threat was intended by the comment.
“The email from the aide was sent to apologize for voicesbeing raised in their previous conversation,” the aide said.observation he made regarding the sequester because thatobservation was inaccurate, nothing more.”
The BuzzFeed news website identified the official whotangled with Woodward as Gene Sperling, head of the NationalEconomic Council. The White House did not respond to a requestto confirm the identity of the official.
Yes, the Buzzfeed story was written by Ben “nothing to see here” Smith.