Former Trump assistants break their silence on Woodward's book

Three of the top advisers and advisers to President Donald Trump attacked Bob Woodward on Tuesday, accusing the veteran journalist of quoting them in his new book "Fear" and misrepresenting Trump White House as chaotic and dangerous.

On the day of the official release of the successful book, former White House staff secretary Rob Porter issued a statement claiming Woodward had presented a "selective and often misleading portrait" of the administration. Former National Economic Council director Gary Cohn and former Trump transition manager Chris Christie also criticized the book that circulated in the West Wing.

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Porter, who left the administration in February after his ex-wives alleged allegations of spousal violence against influential help from the West Wing, particularly criticized reports in Woodward's book that Cohn and others senior officials of.

"As staff secretary, I was responsible for managing the flow of documents to and from the Oval Office and ensuring that everything the chair was asked to sign had been properly verified", Porter said in a statement. "The suggestion that documents were" stolen "from the president's office to prevent his signing does not understand how the White House document review process works – and has worked for at least the last eight administrations."

Porter also suggested that his role in forwarding various government documents and opinions of staff members to the president did not constitute a replacement for Trump's authority – the guy described last week in a New York resistance "was working against Trump in the executive branch.

"It was also my responsibility to ensure that the relevant points of view are taken into account, the advantages and disadvantages assessed, and that the president can make decisions based on complete information," Porter said. "Accomplishing this responsibility does not make the person a" resistance "or does not mean that she is trying to" thwart "the president's program.

Sources familiar with Trump's thought told POLITICO that he was livid to Cohn and Porter, believing he had fled to Woodward, even though Trump had publicly criticized the book as a "fictional" work.

Porter on Tuesday offered an energetic defense from the president, saying Trump "invites a robust discussion and raises probing questions," and reiterated that Trump is ultimately "the one who decides" on his administration's policy.

"During my stay at the White House, I sought to serve the best interests of the President and contribute to his many successes – successes that Mr. Woodward's book ignores," Porter said.

The Porter statement was reported for the first time by Axios, who also received a much more moderate statement from Cohn.

"This book does not accurately portray my experience at the White House," said the former White House economic adviser. "I am proud of my service in the Trump administration and I continue to support the President and his economic program."

Later on Tuesday, Christie released a series of tweets blowing up Woodward and claiming that the famous Watergate reporter had not called to confirm the quotes attributed to him in the book.

"It seems to me that if you directly quote someone based on another person's account, the least you can do is call someone cited to check," writes the former online. Governor of New Jersey.

Christie also accused Woodward of relying too much on former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon for his supply. He mocked Trump's former advisor as a "perpetual loser" and called him "co-author" of Woodward's latest book.

"If Mr. Woodward had carried out rudimentary journalistic checks with those he quoted, he would have had a more accurate book than the stenographer in Mr. Bannon's revisionist history," said Christie.

Woodward did not immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.