White House Official to Change Jobs After ‘Anonymous’ Rumors

(Bloomberg) -- The White House’s deputy national security adviser, Victoria Coates, will move to the Energy Department after battling rumors among some of President Donald Trump’s supporters that she is the author and Trump critic “Anonymous.”

A senior administration official said the move has been in the works for several weeks and that the White House does not believe Coates is the author of the book “A Warning” or a 2018 op-ed in the New York Times that described Trump officials who sought to “thwart parts of his agenda.”

The publisher of “A Warning” has publicly denied that Coates is the author of the book. The White House National Security Council said Thursday that Coates will become a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. She starts her new position on Monday.

“While I’m sad to lose an important member of our team, Victoria will be a big asset to Secretary Brouillette as he executes the president’s energy security policy priorities,” National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said in a statement. “She has served the president loyally since the earliest days of the administration and has played a valued role in the president’s Middle East policy.”

Axios reported Coates’s move earlier on Thursday.

Coates is the latest departure from the White House as Trump engages in retaliation against government officials he considers disloyal, following his acquittal in a Senate impeachment trial earlier this month. Last week, Trump recalled the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, who testified in the House impeachment inquiry, and ordered the dismissal of two National Security Council aides, Alexander and Yevgeny Vindman.

Pentagon Resignation

Alexander Vindman testified in the impeachment inquiry that Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which he asked for investigations of former President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, was “improper.”

On Wednesday, Trump demanded and received the resignation of Pentagon Under Secretary for Policy John Rood. CNN reported earlier this month that Rood had warned Defense Secretary Mark Esper against cutting off U.S. military aid to Ukraine after the White House blocked money Congress had appropriated for the country last summer, as Trump sought to pressure Ukraine’s government to investigate political rivals.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he knows the identity of “Anonymous,” but refused to publicly name the official.

“It’s not so much a search. I know who it is,” Trump told reporters when asked if there is an ongoing search for the author.

“People know it’s a fraud,” he added. “I know who it is, and I know who some of the leakers are.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Jordan Fabian in Washington at jfabian6@bloomberg.net;Mario Parker in Washington at mparker22@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Bill Faries

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