Place Your Bets: Online Sportsbook Taking Bets on Which Senior Trump Official Penned Anonymous NYT Op-Ed

Posted on: September 9, 2018, 01:00h. 

Last updated on: September 10, 2018, 10:07h.

Lucas Thomas Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

President Donald Trump might feel less of the sting of the widely discussed New York Times op-ed piece published earlier this week now that he knows he could possibly make some money off it.

If he can figure out who penned the scathing behind-the-scenes testimony, all he has to do is create an account on MyBookie.ag and place his bet.

The online betting website is taking bets on which senior Trump administration official will be revealed as the writer of the anonymous op-ed which states members of Trump’s administration are “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

If you want to get your bet in, do it soon. The website will stop taking bets on Sunday, September 9.

The Odds

The current political climate is good for business, MyBookie general manager Jack Slater said.

“We definitely see the more volatile politics throughout the world gets, the more action we’re generating,” he told the Washington Post.

Though his office emphatically denied it was him, the likeliest author is Vice President Mike Pence, according to the website, where he’s listed at -125. All other candidates have plus-tag. Jon Hunstman, the United States Ambassador to Russia, has the second best odds at +125, followed by Secretary of Education Betsy at +200.

Other options are Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen (+1000), Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner—both listed at +1200, and Senior Advisor Stephen Miller has the longest odds at +1500.

Former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan are also both listed at +400.

If you aren’t sure who did it, but are sure that whoever it is will be charged with treason by President Trump, you can wager on that, too. If you think the president will charge the writer with treason, a “Yes” bet will cost you -180. If you think Trump will let it slide, a “No” bet is +140.

“It Wasn’t Me”

Kellyanne Conway told CNN that Trump and the White House think the person who wrote it works in national security. If Conway is correct, that narrows it down to Pence, Pompeo, Mnuchin, and Mattis, who are all members of the National Security Council (NSC).

After speculation arose that it might be him, Pence denied he wrote it, saying the author is “disgraceful” and calling for whoever did it to resign.

“Our office is above such acts,” Pence’s communications director Jarrod Agen tweeted.

Pompeo also denied he was responsible when asked about it. He said any official who doesn’t agree with Trump’s agenda should resign rather than try to sabotage the president.

“I come from a place where if you’re not in position to execute the commander’s intent, you have a singular option, that is to leave,” he said.

Trump was initially torn between blaming the anonymous author or the New York Times for the piece, which he said is a matter of national security.

“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 tweeted on Wednesday after it was published.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said Attorney General Sessions should investigate who wrote the op-ed.