First, the President lacks the authority to issue any such order to the NYT. A judge may issue a subpoena to the NYT but that authority is vested in the judiciary and not a proper exercise of executive power. But more to the point, if the administration makes a national security claim in pursuit of the identity of this anonymous official, then that would validate the claims made against the President. The subversion alleged by the op-ed and excerpts from Woodward’s book is premised upon the claim that the President is either addled or else irredeemably incompetent. One of the claimed acts of subversion involved removing an unsigned order from the President’s desk and trusting that there would be no follow up question from the chief executive. Does anyone believe this actually occurred? Undoubtedly, no! Yet, so-called allies of President Trump continue to alleged subversion or sedition or a deep state. Why? Do you believe the President to be incompetent, or stupid, or woefully ignorant? Because if subversion such as this has occurred, then the President must be at least one of those things. This is a separate matter entirely from the Russia nonsense. The President is under no political pressure to acquiesce to his senior aides openly disregarding his orders. If such subversion occurred, then the offenders would have been immediately fired. Since no such firings occurred, we must conclude that none of this alleged subversion occurred. If you insist on believing that the President is the victim of subversion, then kindly explain what evidence you have that the President is stupid or incompetent!
Nice rant.