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Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security

If 40 year old Jofi Joseph wants to ridicule the President of the United States, he has that right, but not while in the service of his country [in the area of national security]. If he was discontented he could have resigned any time and started his tweets based on recollection. But Mr. Joseph chose to remain in the White House and tweet and rant for two years. Why did he do this?

Was he a mole, agent provocateurs or inside reporter hobbyist?

Joseph was a director on the National Security Council in the non-proliferation section. Under the tweet pseudonym @natsecwonk he played the role more akin to a hobbyist inside reporter in a relatively guiltless pleasure since 2011. Examples of tweets posted by The Daily Beast are more soft political insider rants than leaks:

“I’m a fan of Obama, but his continuing reliance and dependence upon a vacuous cipher like Valerie Jarrett concerns me.”

“Was Huma Abedin wearing beer goggles the night she met Anthony Wiener?”

“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 …. ,”

However, while the account @natsecwonk has been shut down, Favstar preserved many more that went beyond the heckling:

“Menendez-Corker resolution, as written, would prevent U.S. action if Syria used chemical weapons against Israel or any other nation.”

Emotionally reactive and impulsive tweets are common but have little if any relevant political substance or reality. His mode of tweeting was exceedingly opinionated and rash. But at other times there seemed like there could be a floating political agenda in all of the heavy language.

“His Twitter feed was a mix of leaking sensitive national security information, criticizing the policies of the administration he worked for and insulting the personalities and appearance of very famous national security officials,” said senior correspondent Josh Rogin.

Rogin said the search accelerated when Joseph repeatedly expressed doubts of the official White House account of the Benghazi attack. It took two months to root him out. Was he speaking in code to a particular audience overseas in a seemingly innocent way? The White House does not suspect so. Perhaps his meager interest and dissatisfaction with the official Benghazi release was an example of another nullified internal political agenda.

On the twitter home page of NatSecWonk, Joseph originally described his tweet work there as: “Unapologetically says what everyone else only thinks. A keen observer of the foreign policy and national security scene. I’m abrasive and bring the snark.”

In an email to Politico, just last week, Joseph would give a grand apology for all the past “snark” after being uncovered and kicked off the team:

“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.”

Ultimately, Joseph, according to the media reports, was fired and not convicted because he was not leaking classified information; only politically damaging information. Yet the other reason could be that the Administration wants this dirt over with and the less public exposure of an inside leak at the NSC level, the better. If that is the case, Joseph might have received the lightest farewell and the mandatory “my fault” apology.