Identity of New York Times op-ed author unknown to paper's top news editor

The identity of the person who wrote the anonymous op-ed in The New York Times, which detailed internal resistance among President Donald Trump's staff, is such a guarded secret that even the newspaper's executive editor does not know who it is, CNN reported Sunday.

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Dean Baquet, the Times' executive editor, and his newsroom have been unable to learn the identity of the op-ed writer. According to CNN, at least three people know who wrote the controversial piece: James Bennet, the editorial page editor; Jim Dao, the newspaper's op-ed editor; and Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger.

Patrick Healy, the paper's politics editor, declined to say whether Times reporters are working to reveal the author.

"We can't talk about the journalism that we're doing," Healy told CNN on Sunday.

Healy added that any agreements made between the newspaper’s editorial staff and the author does not apply to the newsroom.

"The decisions that the editorial department has made, from the vetting to the anonymity granted, and the news department are totally different," Healy told CNN.

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