Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday rebuked the anonymous author of a New York Times op-ed claiming to be “part of the Resistance inside the Trump Administration,” instead of cheering the official beside his Democratic colleagues.

“I’m not celebrating the authorship of this piece,” Murphy told CNN’s “New Day” anchor John Berman. “No, I’m not, because I’m not sure how it actually solves the problem that this person is identifying.”

The Times published the piece claiming to be written by “a senior official in the Trump administration” Wednesday, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The author wrote, “I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

Trump reacted forcefully on Twitter Wednesday, writing, “TREASON?”

“Does the so-called ‘Senior Administration Official’ really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!” Trump added.

Murphy also reacted on Twitter, writing Wednesday, “The Trump Administration is not Vichy France, but history renders consistent judgment on those that collaborate with regimes they judge to be immoral in order to justify a paycheck and fancy job title.”

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Berman noted that Murphy didn’t seem to be “cheering” on the anonymous op-ed writer. Murphy said he wasn’t.

“Frankly, if you’re concerned about the stability of the president and the stability of the nation, I’m not sure why would you prick him in the side, make even him more paranoid, and perhaps having a purge inside the White House of anyone he suspects to be connected with mainstream Republican causes,” Murphy emphasized.

“This seems more like someone who is trying to protect the job interests of those inside the administration who want to work in Washington after this disaster is over,” Murphy added.

“There is [sic] plenty of other ways that this person could have gone about disclosing this information. I heard someone say last night that this would have made a pretty important resignation letter. So I’m not sure that there’s a lot of heroism in writing this piece,” he said.

Murphy even said he was “glad” that widely respected officials like Secretary of Defense James Mattis accepted positions within the Trump administration.

“Of course I’m glad that [Trump] has competent people inside the administration, and Secretary Mattis says himself that he doesn’t feel the things that this person feels,” Murphy said. “And so we all have mixed feelings, right? About good people going inside this administration. I just doubt whether the way in which this individual is expressing himself or herself is actually making the situation better.”

If a disgruntled Trump administration official who wants to be part of the resistance is trying to advance a particular policy agenda that conflicts with Trump’s, then “I don’t think that placing an anonymous article in The New York Times is the best way to try to advance your cause,” Murphy warned.

Others joined Trump in offering even stronger condemnation than Murphy did. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich eviscerated the anonymous senior Trump administration official as a “coward” during an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

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“[The official] is behaving, I think, in a way which undermines and betrays the Constitution,” Gingrich insisted. “He is working for the president of the United States. The president of the United States is picked by the American people. Here is this person, this coward — that’s what it is, it is a coward — who is hiding, writing anonymously, hasn’t got the guts to come out in public.”

“And, frankly, what [the official] ought to do is resign. Anybody who thinks that Trump is as bad as this guy thinks he is, ought to just resign and go home,” Gingrich added. “Go teach at a college. They will love you. Go work at CNN. They will adore you.”

“But this idea that we’re going to have people floating around the federal government paid by the taxpayer, working to undermine the president of the United States, I think that is a very outrageous arrogation of authority and, frankly, absolutely undermines the Constitution,” he warned.

(photo credit, homepage and article images: Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, Cropped/Collage, by Michael Vadon / Chris Murphy, CC BY 2.0, by Estonian Foreign Ministry)