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Article snippet: roiled the White House as officials sought to tamp down claims that they could be the anonymous author. Trump officials took to the Sunday news shows this week to back the president’s argument that authoring the op-ed constituted criminal activity — a claim that Democrats were quick to push back on. When host Chris Wallace argued that there was nothing illegal about the op-ed, Pence suggested the author violated their oath to the Constitution. “The Constitution of the United States vests all executive power in the president of the United States,” he said. “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." Trump last week called for the Department of Justice to investigate the writer’s identity, casting it as a national security matter. In their op-ed, the author claimed to be part of a secret coordinated effort among White House staff to thwart parts of Trump’s agenda and his "worst inclinations." White House counselor telling CNN's “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper that Trump “doesn't want this person in a meeting where he's discussing China, Russia, North Korea.” “Any president of the United States, Jake, should have the comfort and the freedom to speak with his national security team,” she said. Conway added that “there can be an investigation if there is criminal activity” and suggested that it’s possible the author may have committed... Link to the full article to read more