Once upon a time, Bob Woodward was a formidable journalist with credibility to spare, having exposed – with partner Carl Bernstein – the Nixon-era Watergate scandal, putting their paper, The Washington Post, on the map of greats.

But that was more than 40 years ago. Since then, Woodward has degenerated into a rumor-mongering hack who relies primarily on “anonymous sources” that many believe are often just fabrications.

His latest work, “Fear: Inside the Trump White House,” appears to be more of the same, as one person after another he mentions in the book disparaging POTUS Donald Trump in some manner are stepping forward to deny those claims, The Daily Caller reported.

“This book does not accurately portray my experience at the White House,” former National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said in a statement last week. “I am proud of my service in the Trump Administration, and I continue to support the President and his economic agenda.”

According to Woodward, Cohn took important trade documents off the president’s desk to prevent him from moving forward on them. He was also accused of insulting Trump’s intelligence on several occasions.

Cohn wasn’t the only one to deny the book’s allegations.

Former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who was forced out earlier this year after reports surfaced that he physically abused his ex-wife, told Axios and other media outlets that “having now read Bob Woodward’s ‘Fear,’ I am struck by the selective and often misleading portrait it paints of the president and his administration.

He added: “During my time at the White House, I sought to serve the president’s best interests and to help enable his many successes – successes that Mr. Woodward’s book ignores.” (Related: CoS Kelly on NBC report that he called Trump ‘an idiot’ — ‘It’s total BS’.)

Porter and Cohn join Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chief of Staff John Kelly in denials of what Woodward claimed they said.

In his book, Woodward claimed that Mattis said, according to Red State:

After Trump left a meeting with Defense Secretary James Mattis on North Korea, Woodward recounts, “Mattis was particularly exasperated and alarmed, telling close associates that the president acted like — and had the understanding of — ‘a fifth- or sixth-grader.’”

Respected officials have denied

Mattis responded, “The contemptuous words about the President attributed to me in Woodward’s book were never uttered by me or in my presence. While I generally enjoy reading fiction, this is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility.”

He continued, “In serving in this administration, the idea that I would show contempt for the elected Commander-in-Chief, President Trump, or tolerate disrespect to the office of the President, or tolerate disrespect to the office of the President from our Department of Defense, is a product of someone’s rich imagination.”

Kelly, meanwhile, called Woodward’s claim “total BS” that he called Trump an “idiot.”

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, said that “well-respected” people within the administration have stepped up to deny the allegations attributed to them.

“People who are well respected in this administration have come out and denied it,” he commented. “If Gen. [James] Mattis had an issue with my father, he would say it to his face.”

Here’s why none of this makes sense: Everyone in the White House knows what kind of ‘journalist’ Woodward is. They know he’s no friend of the president. They know he is a hack.

Why would anyone willingly insult the POTUS when they knew their comments would wind up in his book?

And for that matter, why was Woodward allowed in the White House in the first place?

Donald Jr. made the most relevant comment yet when he said the “respected” members of the administration have stepped up to deny the comments attributed to them. But that doesn’t mean no one disparaged POTUS Trump, it just means he remains under siege by the Deep State.

Read more about hoaxes involving POTUS Trump at Hoax.news.

Sources include:

TheNationalSentinel.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

RedState.com

DailyCaller.com