Seems like they think it is a real person, not a fake news story. Since the NYT has come out in favor of any and all tactics to take down this President, I would not put it past them to make this up.
But if it is a real person, I doubt it is a high level person. 2nd or 3rd tier, probably a Bush or Obama holdover.
Or it was written in the White House and fed to the NYT. It’s a trigger point.