White House fires a top man: tweeter who called Valerie Jarrett 'vacuous cipher', Palin family 'white trash'
A White House national security official who has been posting insults and secret information about the Obama administration and other political figures for more than two years, has been fired.
Jofi Joseph:insulted Palin
Jofi Joseph, 40, had been tweeting under the handle @natsecwonk since February 2011 . White House and State Department officials had been searching for him months and finally shut down the handle last week.
The former member of the National Security Council non-proliferation team insulted everyone via Twitter from White House advisors to political figures, the Daily Beast and Politico reported.
The search intensified after @NatSecWonk repeatedly expressed doubts about administration accounts concerning a Sept. 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Joseph's tweets criticized White House policy as well as the intellect and appearance of his bosses. He even insulted officials by name, including Secretary of State John Kerry and former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, The Daily Beast reported.
"I'm a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like (White House senior adviser) Valerie Jarrett concerns me," he tweeted.
Joseph emailed an apology to Politico:"It has been a privilege to serve in this administration and I deeply regret violating the trust and confidence placed in me.
"What started out as an intended parody account of DC culture developed over time into a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments. I bear complete responsibility for this affair and I sincerely apologize to everyone I insulted."
Joseph was part of the White House team working on negotiations with Iran, the Daily Beast reports.
Eric Schultz, an Obama spokesman, confirmed Joseph was gone from the White House and no longer had top security clearances, Politico reported.
His insults crossed all party lines, said Politico.
"So when will someone do us the favor of getting rid of (Republican and former vice presidential contender) Sarah Palin and the rest of her white trash family? What utter useless garbage?" he tweeted last year.