On Wednesday, September 5, The New York Times published an anonymous opinion piece, or OpEd, that claimed members of the Trump administration acted on behalf of the United States as members of the resistance. The Times only identified the writer as a senior member of the administration for whom revealing their identity would jeopardize their job.
Since then, internet sleuths and the White House worked to figure out who it is. Lists of Trump administration staff lined up to declare "not I" before the President and the public.
On Thursday evening, WikiLeaks took to Twitter to give their take on the anonymous writer. They stated:
"Based upon our statistical analysis of the language used in the New York Times anonymous Op Ed, the author is likely to be an older (58%), conservative (92%) male (66-87%). Sources should protect themselves by consulting 'adverserial [sic] stylometry' and 'forensic author profiling'."
Based upon our statistical analysis of the language used in the New York Times anonymous Op Ed, the author is likel… https://t.co/DQMnIgw2Az— WikiLeaks (@WikiLeaks) 1536284974.0
They also included a tiny, nearly illegible, colorful graphic.
However, the Twittersphere quickly pointed out that the demographic WikiLeaks pointed to is the same demographic of the majority of the President's staff.
@wikileaks Based on my statistical analysis of the language used in this tweet, @wikileaks is likely to be self-agg… https://t.co/3nfiHNwiPi— Ω CallanDC (@Ω CallanDC) 1536304360.0
Without statistical analysis of language, a review of White House and Trump administration senior staff photos would also give an identical analysis.
An older conservative male. Got it. That sure narrows it down. https://t.co/s140iVvo0k— Jake Tapper (@Jake Tapper) 1536293041.0
Perhaps their message would fare better if prefaced with "Not to state the obvious, but...."
@wikileaks Great profiling! I expected it to be a young, black female with a girlfriend and membership in the Comm… https://t.co/syP3wwHlC5— Robert Lee (@Robert Lee) 1536288587.0
@wikileaks https://t.co/xdAqsk6quv— ⛄🎄Heather🦌🎄 (@⛄🎄Heather🦌🎄) 1536287351.0
@wikileaks That's some serious sleuthing. Your computer model ruled out Nicky Haley and Omorosa.— Marc Albert (@Marc Albert) 1536286363.0
@dejablu503 @wikileaks https://t.co/br0k8CuiEC— J.M. Mason #BringCanuckHome (@J.M. Mason #BringCanuckHome) 1536292919.0
@wikileaks Based on the makeup of the White House, no shit sherlock— Jeremy Sher (@Jeremy Sher) 1536285007.0
@wikileaks Based upon our statistical analysis of the language used in this tweet, the author is likely to be a Cap… https://t.co/uu4wqxwMUR— Morten Øverbye (@Morten Øverbye) 1536307944.0
@wikileaks Seriously? It took fancy analytics to determine it was an older conservative male? You just described the administration ...— David Golden (@David Golden) 1536286238.0
@wikileaks https://t.co/XYoeHRFQxp— Palmer Wood (@Palmer Wood) 1536285583.0
@wikileaks You just described the entire GOP bro— Julia Lundman (@Julia Lundman) 1536289551.0
@wikileaks Huh. And here I thought it'd be a young, liberal woman. Well done! https://t.co/haqu7iT9V8— Moderate Jerk (@Moderate Jerk) 1536286488.0
@wikileaks My cat could have come to this conclusion.— KaBA (@KaBA) 1536292396.0
@jaketapper Who wouldda thunk?¿? https://t.co/0b8DWkf0Gi— Fubbles McBubbles (@Fubbles McBubbles) 1536294141.0
@wikileaks If only we could find an old white guy in the Trump admin. This really is a cutting edge insight.— Pete Bacon (@Pete Bacon) 1536286249.0
But what about that colorful graphic?
@wikileaks No one can read that picture— James (@James) 1536285273.0
The Twitter profile "Alt-Immigration" tracked it down and provided a better image. They expressed their displeasure with the use of the seemingly random graphic rather eloquently.
@wikileaks Based upon our statistical analysis of the language used in wiki leaks tweets, the author is likely to b… https://t.co/g6AmzEOjwI— ALT-immigration 🛂 #IAmDevinNunesCow (@ALT-immigration 🛂 #IAmDevinNunesCow) 1536294373.0
@wikileaks I was right..... here is the bulll S**t analysis you showed that no one could read.. it is an analysis o… https://t.co/NNI1vV4WSc— ALT-immigration 🛂 #IAmDevinNunesCow (@ALT-immigration 🛂 #IAmDevinNunesCow) 1536326277.0
@wikileaks I called you scum buckets yesterday for a reason. Your Adversarial Stylometry picture there to find the… https://t.co/73beR57z4G— ALT-immigration 🛂 #IAmDevinNunesCow (@ALT-immigration 🛂 #IAmDevinNunesCow) 1536326226.0
It is colorful though.
Graphic used in WikiLeaks post on analysis of Trump administration NYT OpEd. (Twitter)
Meanwhile, others provided their own guesses for the identity of the mystery writer.
Sometimes with colorful graphics of their own.
@jaketapper https://t.co/wPIQ8Zc6SJ— Taryn Kelly (@Taryn Kelly) 1536293178.0
@TarynKelly7 @jaketapper Oh my God, the hat.. THE HAT.. I can't... I'm done.. dying here... https://t.co/KikqSR714M— Kristina Anderson🐧🐱☮️☯️ (@Kristina Anderson🐧🐱☮️☯️) 1536293786.0
@CheriJacobus @jaketapper https://t.co/8jF0AUXCq3— Cortney Miller (@Cortney Miller) 1536298190.0
@jymetcalf @Lex_Mamilia @CheriJacobus @jaketapper https://t.co/cr5W4xb6FA— Cortney Miller (@Cortney Miller) 1536322185.0
@wikileaks "Hmmm....Older, conservative male, I deduce that it is, therefore probably one of these fellows!" Watson… https://t.co/914zUmDPnD— Teacher Dude (@Teacher Dude) 1536300894.0
@jaketapper @micloria So it can't be Ben Carson. That helps.— ⓜⓐⓡⓡⓡⓡⓡⓞ (@ⓜⓐⓡⓡⓡⓡⓡⓞ) 1536320873.0
@jaketapper Well yeah. We know it wasn't Maxine Waters. https://t.co/9I21Suq0Nj— Kupo🎈 (@Kupo🎈) 1536301197.0
@wikileaks Almost everyone in this photo can be called “senior official.” Not even the 10% fulfills all 3 attribute… https://t.co/bz00iBUdWd— The Wolf Report (@The Wolf Report) 1536286467.0
Since The New York Times published the article, the White House issued several statements, including one written for First Lady Melania Trump. The OpEd came on the heels of media attention surrounding renowned investigative journalist Bob Woodward's new book, Fear: Trump in the White House.
Like the OpEd piece, Trump administration officials scrambled to disavow any connection to WoodWard's latest political expose.