White House told Woodward he would ‘regret’ publishing story

Prominent Washington journalist Bob Woodward said a senior White House official threatened him he would “regret” publishing a story challenging the White House’s account of how the idea for automatic spending cuts originated.

Woodward said in interviews with Politico and CNN that when he informed the White House he was writing a story critical of the White House’s handling of a debate over the origin of the cuts, known as sequestration, the official reacted angrily.

The aide “yelled at me for about a half hour”, Woodward told Politico, and then followed up the tirade with an email: “I apologise for raising my voice in our conversation today.