What in the fresh hell is this? An imposter might have
infiltrated a White House intern group chat, collected signatures, and
sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. That
appears to be the case, and yet another chapter of White House
intrigue, though one that doesn’t involve Hunter Biden, his drug use,
his tax evasion shenanigans, his gun charges, his prostitutes, or Joe
Biden’s mental decay. Then again, who is this person? We have a name,
but no one knows who she is—who is ‘Thara Nagarajan?’
Her alleged behavior in this story is incredulous. She posted a
message into the GroupMe White House intern chat, hoping to solicit
support for a letter demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. She
gave interns in the chat until that evening to submit their names but
added that they wouldn’t be revealed. Nagarajan then left the chat. The
letter was leaked to the press, with NBC News reporting.
The ballsy move was dismissed, even mocked, as it should—did a group of interns demand Biden push Israel to halt the war?
Interns are meant to be seen, not heard. Politico posted about this on
Wednesday, following a deep dive into what The Hill reported about this
letter and Ms. “Nagarajan,” a woman who is not “directly affiliated with
the White House.” It might not have been a White House intern
initiative after all, and we don’t know if “Nagarajan” was the
brainchild or the pawn in this little act of guerilla activism.
The
White House also doesn’t run or manage the group chat either—interns
use it to communicate and stay in touch. Luckily, some read the post and
were wary of it. With the Fall semester about to end, the window to
figure out the identity of “Nagarajan” is rapidly closing. Even if they
don’t know who this person is, Politico adds that the interns’ consensus
position is that the letter outlined their views on the matter, and
this cloak-and-dagger twist shouldn’t take away from that (via Politico):
Recommended
When NBC News published a piece last week about a letter
White House interns sent to President JOE BIDEN pressuring him to call
for a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, some on social
media mocked the staffers for their gall to anonymously challenge the
president and then leak the effort to the media. Others applauded their
boldness.
And some cast doubt on the legitimacy of the entire thing.
Rumors
started to circulate that the letter wasn’t actually organized by White
House interns, but rather someone outside the administration. A day
after the NBC story published, The Hill’s BRETT SAMUELS reported a
“source familiar with the letter pushed back on its significance, saying
it was organized by a woman named Thara [Nagarajan] who is not directly
affiliated with the White House.”
According to a screenshot
reviewed by West Wing Playbook, a user named THARA NAGARAJAN
mysteriously popped into the White House intern GroupMe chat the Sunday
before the letter became public.
“Hi all, as the genocide of
Palestinians continues, there is a public letter for White House interns
to sign anonymously for those who stand with Palestine,” Nagarajan
wrote, along with a link to the letter on a Google Form. She said that
interns had until 6 p.m. the following day to “sign” by noting the
offices that they work in — but assured everyone that no actual names or
emails would be collected or revealed.
There’s no evidence
suggesting that Nagarajan orchestrated the letter. Nor has anyone cast
doubt that a sizable number of White House interns feel distraught about
the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
But
still, no one could figure out who Nagarajan was — or how she got access
to the intern chat. After Nagarajan sent that message, she immediately
left the group.
The White House doesn’t run the intern GroupMe,
which serves as an informal way for the roughly 150 20-somethings to
stay in touch throughout the course of their program.
So,
understandably, some interns were weirded out by the situation and
flagged Nagarajan’s request to their supervisors. Some who did not want
to be associated with the letter’s content said they were uncomfortable
with the way they were approached.
[…]
West Wing Playbook
attempted to get in touch with Nagarajan — or, at least, who we believe
to be the same Nagarajan in the GroupMe. But our multiple calls, emails
and texts went unanswered.
The same intern, one of the roughly 40
who signed the letter, said that Nagarajan’s involvement shouldn’t
undercut the message they were trying to relay. The person stressed that
the letter was organized by interns and not written by Nagarajan. And
the person argued the letter exposed real tensions that have rippled
throughout the Biden administration in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack.
The
2023 fall internship program ends this month. Some interns are coming
to terms with the fact that they might leave campus without any answers
about Nagarajan’s identity.
Interns organized it, but it might not have been. What is this, Abbott and Costello? As for full-time staffers, a few of them protested outside
the White House recently, calling for the same thing. Does anyone have
control over their respective staff within this administration? What is
going on?
Was this a fake letter?
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