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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Thursday afternoon that he believes President Trump would be justified in using lie detector tests to figure out which senior administrative official wrote the anonymous New York Times op-ed.

The Washington Examiner confirmed Paul's comments with the senator's communications director, Sergio Gor.

The Times published an anonymous op-ed Wednesday that described members of the Trump administration working "diligently" to stop the president's "worst impulses" and move against parts of his agenda. The author claimed not to be working alone and that the group is acting because they believe their primary duty is to protect the country.

[Also read: 7 points on the anonymous New York Times 'resistance' op-ed]

It isn't the first time Paul has suggested the federal government use lie detectors to figure out who leaked classified information. In March 2017, Paul said that the federal government should employ the method to ascertain who leaked the transcripts of former national security adviser Michael Flynn's conversations with the U.S. ambassador to Russia.

"It is very, very important that whoever released that go to jail, because you cannot have members of the intelligence community listening to the most private and highly classified information and then releasing that to the New York Times," Paul told ABC in 2017. "There can only be a certain handful of people who did that. I would bring them all in. They would have to take lie detector tests. And, I would say, including the political people, because some political people knew about this as well."

Trump is reportedly increasingly concerned about those around him in the White House. A number of events, like audio recordings and leaks from former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman, have shaken the president's confidence in his personnel.

Journalist Bob Woodward is set to release a book that paints the picture of a White House in perpetual turmoil, with top aides often finding themselves at odds with the president to the point that some, such as former White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, offered their resignations. The book has only worked to reinforce the president's belief that there are leakers around him in the White House who are actively working to undermine his presidency.

During the March 2017 interview, Paul warned about a "deep state" wherein intelligence officials have "enormous power." Trump, like Paul, is concerned about the deep state.

Trump mentioned the deep state in a tweet Thursday morning, coupling it in with the "Fake News Media" and the "Left."

"The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they dont know what to do. The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow," the president tweeted.

A number of senior White House officials have pushed back against rumors that it was a top administration official that wrote the op-ed.

Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both denied on Thursday authoring the op-ed, claiming the author should be ashamed for writing it and that people should take too much credence in the words. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson all joined Pence and Pompeo in claiming they did not write the story.

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Rand Paul: Trump would be 'justified' in using 'lie-detector ...