It's never wise to create an anonymous account on Twitter to talk smack about your employer, because it rarely ends well. That's what senior White House official Jofi Joseph did, and now he's out of a job.
For more than two years, Joseph provided an abrasive commentary on his colleagues via his Twitter handle, @NatSecWonk. During his time on Twitter, Joseph repeatedly criticized the policies of his bosses in the White House, along with downplaying their intellect and appearance. He even insulted several top White House officials including former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, Secretary of State John Kerry, and many more.
The Daily Beast, which broke the story, reported that Joseph "has also worked at the State Department and on Capitol Hill for Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and (Vice President) Joe Biden. Until recently, he was part of the administration's team working on negotiations with Iran."
Not surprisingly, Joseph also insulted republicans via his Twitter feed. "So when will someone do us the favor of getting rid of Sarah Palin and the rest of her white trash family? What utter useless garbage .... "
Politico reported on the investigation into Jofi Joseph's tweets:
"After a probe that included an investigation into Joseph's travel and shopping patterns - parsed from over 2,000 tweets - lawyers from the White House counsel's office confronted Joseph and ordered him to leave the executive complex, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Joseph had been scheduled to rotate out of White House duty to a senior job in the Pentagon."
The BBC posted several tweets of Joseph, which included disparaging comments about some officials.
"Was Huma Abedin wearing beer goggles the night she met Anthony Weiner," Joseph tweeted, referring to the scandal-hit former New York mayoral candidate and his wife, a former aide of Hillary Clinton.
"Almost as bad a pairing as Samantha Powers and Cass Sunstein," he added, referring the US envoy to the UN and her husband, who is a former White House official.
