White House Staffer Fired for Tweets

A White House national security staffer was fired last week for Tweeting unflattering and abrasive comments about government officials and the Obama administration.

Jofi Joseph was a director in the non-proliferation section of the National Security Staff at the White House.  For the last two and a half years, he Tweeted under the name @NatSecWonk, and according to The Washington Post, his posts were quite popular among those on the inside:

The Twitter feed @natsecwonk, a guilty pleasure among national security analysts, reporters and others, disappeared last week. Searches for it Tuesday on Twitter yielded messages that there was no such user.

The Twitter feed had rankled Obama administration officials and career State Department higher-ups, some of whom suspected that @natsecwonk was a current or former department official.

Joseph’s Twitter bio stated:

Unapologetically says what everyone else only thinks. A keen observer of the foreign policy and national security scene. I’m abrasive and bring the snark.

And bring the snark, he did:

According to The Daily Beast:

Joseph openly criticized the policies of his White House bosses and often insulted their intellect and appearance. At different times, he insulted or criticized several top White House and State Department officials, including former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Secretary of State John Kerry, and many many others.

The Daily Beast saved a record of @natsecwonk’s tweets before his Twitter account was closed:

“So when will someone do us the favor of getting rid of Sarah Palin and the rest of her white trash family? What utter useless garbage …. “

“I’m a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me”

“My friends call me Batman”

More of Joseph’s archived Tweets can be seen on Favstar, a website that tracks Tweets.

Joseph’s Tweets never contained classified or highly sensitive information, but they often contained insider details.

White House and State department officials worked for months to discover @NatSecWonk’s identity.  After repeated Tweets about his doubts on the official accounts on the attack in Benghazi, the search intensified:

“Look, (Republican Rep. Darrell) Issa is an ass, but he’s on to something here with the @HillaryClinton whitewash of accountability for Benghazi.”

In an email to POLITICO, Joseph said:

“It has been a privilege to serve in this Administration and I deeply regret violating the trust and confidence placed in me.  What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to everyone I insulted.”

Joseph is also suspected of being responsible for another Twitter account, “@dchobbyist”.  That account  “included racier tweets about sexual encounters, escort services – and the inner workings of the State Department,” according to POLITICO.

Exactly how Joseph’s identity was uncovered has not been revealed.  Was the NSA involved?  If so, why did it take them so long to find him?  It seems that his Tweets about Benghazi were of special concern to the White House.  Perhaps he was onto something and was revealing too much.

We can’t have people running around spreading the truth about this administration, now can we?

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