Victoria Coates Comes Out to Say She's Not 'Anonymous'

Rumors have long swirled that she was behind the 'NYT' op-end
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 20, 2020 12:03 AM CDT
Ex-NSC Aide: No, I'm Really Not 'Anonymous'
In this Nov. 3, 2019, file photo, the south side of the White House is pictured before President Donald Trump arrives.   (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Rumors have long swirled that Victoria Coates, President Trump's former deputy national security adviser, is "Anonymous," and officials have long denied those rumors—but Coates herself is now denying a new report claiming the same. Real Clear Investigations published an extensive piece last week citing multiple unnamed sources who say it was indeed Coates who wrote an anonymous New York Times op-ed, followed by the book A Warning, claiming to be part of a movement of Republicans resisting Trump from the inside. Coates has since issued a statement obtained by Axios denying the report. "The allegations published in Real Clear Investigations are utterly false. I am not Anonymous, and I do not know who Anonymous is," she says.

Coates' lawyer says Real Clear Investigations "peddled false statements citing only anonymous sources, despite on-the-record denials from Javelin LLC (the literary agent for Anonymous), the White House, and three well-respected members of the Trump Administration—and now Dr. Coates as well. We are continuing to explore all available legal options." The Real Clear Investigations story claimed that a monthslong White House probe found multiple reasons to believe Coates was "Anonymous," including computer analyses comparing her writing to Anonymous' writing, personal details revealed by Anonymous that fit with Coates' own history, firsthand accounts of events only attended by Coates and a few others who have been ruled out, and more. The sources say the White House decided it would be politically unwise to reveal Anonymous' identity before the election. (Coates was transferred out of the White House.)

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