White House Official = Twitter Troll?

Posted on | October 23, 2013 | 26 Comments

Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferation section of the National Security Staff at the White House, has been surreptitiously tweeting under the moniker @natsecwonk, a Twitter feed famous inside Washington policy circles since it began in February, 2011 until it was shut down last week.
Two administration officials confirmed that the mystery tweeter was Joseph, who has also worked at the State Department and on Capitol Hill for Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Joe Biden. Until recently, he was part of the administration’s team working on negotiations with Iran.

Read the whole thing. Joseph was doing a New Media Age version of an old game played by disgruntled D.C. types, the anonymous “leak” that disparages one’s colleagues or superiors. During the Reagan years, there were always anonymous “sources” who would badmouth the administration’s policy and personnel in quotes to reporters at the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Such behavior is disgracefully selfish, because the leaker’s motive — petty revenge and the advancement of personal ambition — is never made apparent in the press coverage based on blind sources. Backstabbing the boss, or sabotaging one’s peers, is not something that lying cowards are ever willing to do under their own names.

Via Memeorandum, with more blog commentary at Outside the Beltway, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers and Ann Althouse.

Category: Journalism

Comments

26 Responses to “White House Official = Twitter Troll?”

MrEvilMatt
October 23rd, 2013 @ 9:04 am

White House Official = Twitter Troll?: This is disturbing news: Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferati… http://t.co/YOzOTNIe5G
CHideout
October 23rd, 2013 @ 9:04 am

White House Official = Twitter Troll?: This is disturbing news: Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferati… http://t.co/51Y1dKmqTs
Resista38176897
October 23rd, 2013 @ 9:04 am

White House Official = Twitter Troll?: This is disturbing news: Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferati… http://t.co/4VrXU8w5kI
Citzcom
October 23rd, 2013 @ 9:04 am

White House Official = Twitter Troll?: This is disturbing news: Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferati… http://t.co/th5jUJ6B2C
jwbrown1969
October 23rd, 2013 @ 9:04 am

White House Official = Twitter Troll?: This is disturbing news: Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferati… http://t.co/9zpcVJsenb
Lockestep1776
October 23rd, 2013 @ 9:04 am

White House Official = Twitter Troll?: This is disturbing news: Jofi Joseph, a director in the non-proliferati… http://t.co/ovzmIo6rmC
M. Thompson
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:14 am

He thought Mr. Obama was a decent person, but was concerned about Valerie Jarret. Hmm. I wonder who’s really in charge.
DooMM
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:18 am

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bet0001970
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:21 am

Jarrett is. I’ve heard a LOT of nasty stuff about that harpy. Word is…she has her own “Oval Office” and people are genuinely afraid of her.

Interestingly, this guy (who is a real piece of work, btw) isn’t the only one who works for the administration and now realizes how bad they are. I’ve heard there are others.
richard mcenroe
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:24 am

Hey, this shtick paid off for “Deep Throat” Felt. didn’t it?
richard mcenroe
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:26 am

“Such behavior is disgracefully selfish…” unless you do it to a Republican.
The Bearded Bastard of Babylon
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:41 am

Oh, where, oh where is His Semi-Mammalianness? A spammer named “DooMM” is inside the wire…
bet0001970
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:45 am

The bouncer will along with his ban-hammer soon enough. Just have another drink. It’s 5 pm somewhere in the world. 😉
The Bearded Bastard of Babylon
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:47 am

It’s also 1620 somewhere too!
bet0001970
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:48 am

Touche’
The Bearded Bastard of Babylon
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:53 am

Y’know… If you hold down the ALT key and tap in ‘0233’, you get the “é” character…
bet0001970
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:56 am

Well, he DID do it to Republicans. In fact he did it to everyone. Conservatives, progressives, media, everyone. And I don’t have a problem with that. What I have a problem with…is that this guy kept taking the money. He had major issues and massive disdain for these people he was working with/for and he just kept taking the money.

Kind of makes him the bigger scumbag.
bet0001970
October 23rd, 2013 @ 10:57 am

So much work for one character. But I’ll think about it.

(Fucking French)
G Joubert
October 23rd, 2013 @ 11:16 am

Interesting that he was fired. One of the ways this administration keeps disgruntled former employees from running to the media –notice how few there considering how heavy-handed and roguish this administration is– is to NOT fire them. Can’t help but believe that at some point, probably pretty soon, the floodgates will open and there will be a torrent of tell-all books and interviews.
rmnixondeceased
October 23rd, 2013 @ 11:25 am

You can always use charmap if on a Windows system …
Anonymous Twitterer @natsecwonk outed as now fired Jofi Joseph, a former White House Official | The Americanist
October 23rd, 2013 @ 12:10 pm

[…] Wire, Mediaite, Hot Air, Right Wing News, BillMoyers.com,Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, The Week, BBC, Taylor Marsh, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, The Raw […]
Quartermaster
October 23rd, 2013 @ 12:25 pm

One of the more printable things you can say about the GOP establishment too.
The Bearded Bastard of Babylon
October 23rd, 2013 @ 2:04 pm

There’s always the default, “‘Tooshay!” for those who can’t handle an extended key set…
Proof: The #ObamaCare Rollout Is NOT Barry’s Fault | Regular Right Guy
October 23rd, 2013 @ 4:17 pm

[…] White House Official = Twitter Troll? […]
thatMrGguy
October 23rd, 2013 @ 6:48 pm

White House Official = Twitter Troll? http://t.co/mIImpXElmV
FMJRA 2.0: Floating : The Other McCain
October 26th, 2013 @ 2:33 pm

[…] White House Official = Twitter Troll? […]