The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders,has said that the identity of New York Times op- ed writer should be investigated as the anonymous writer is trying to malign the highest office of the presidency by being too critical about the ability of the President. She wanted that the US Department of Justice should “look into” the writer’s identity.

She declined to comment whether the White House was seriously involved in finding out the anonymous writer. But she ruled out the possibility that lie detector tests would be used in the search.

It was the first White House briefing since the New York Times essay became public last week. And that came just a day after bombshell revelations in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward on the Trump White House, which described senior figures discussing the removal of the president from office, at one point, and calling him an idiot.

“It’s frankly, I think, sad and pathetic that a gutless anonymous source could receive so much attention from the media,” Sanders said of the New York Times piece. She also parried a question about whether the president believes the wave of cabinet members and top officials who have come forward to plead not guilty to writing the essay.

Sanders then attacked Woodward’s credibility, saying that several members of the administration including Kelly and Mattis have disputed the characterization of events described in the book.

Trump, who reacted angrily to the one-two punch last week, threatened to write his own book about his presidency. Since Trump came to office media is under frequent attack from him.