Mike Pence Says He Would Take Lie Detector Test To Prove He Didn’t Write ‘NYT’ Op-Ed
Shortly after the anonymous editorial was released by the New York Times, speculation began that Vice President Mike Pence had written it. The author was a top Trump official, and the editorial seemed to suggest that Pence would a better leader. It almost seemed to propose that solution, in fact.
However, Huffington Post reports that not only does Mike Pence deny writing the op-ed, he is willing to take a lie detector test to prove he didn’t write it. Lie detector tests are not admissible as proof in a court of law.
Pence appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss the op-ed, which was apparently written by a senior Trump staff member. Pence vehemently denied writing it, and said he would submit to any interrogation. He also called for the author to resign from their post working for the president.
“Every senior official in any administration takes an oath to the Constitution,” Pence said. “The Constitution of the United States vests all executive power in the president of the United States. To have an individual who took that oath ? literally say that they work every day to frustrate the president advancing the agenda he was elected to advance ? is undemocratic. It’s not just deceitful, but it’s really an assault on our democracy. And that person should do the honorable thing, step forward and resign.”
Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
The author of the op-ed, which was published on Wednesday, mentioned that they and other staffers have apparently taken on the task of trying to prevent Trump from achieving his agenda. Following the publication, Trump encouraged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look into the issue, citing a potential matter of national security.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is the official who suggested that all top-ranking officials should take a polygraph to clear them as the author of the op-ed. He said since a security clearance is required to work in the White House, it would be fair to ask officials to submit to a lie detector test to determine if they were speaking to members of the media against White House policy.
The piece included the word “lodestar,” a fairly uncommon phrase often used by Pence. Some have speculated it was included to set up Pence as the author, but Pence said he did not know if that was the case.
Pence said it is clear the op-ed was an attempt to distract the president, the strength of the economy, and his success.
