US Vice-President Mike Pence says he would be prepared to take a lie detector test to prove no-one on his staff was involved with an anonymous column criticising President Donald Trump's leadership.

Key points: US Vice-President says he's "100 per cent confident" no-one on his staff was involved with column criticising Mr Trump

US Vice-President says he's "100 per cent confident" no-one on his staff was involved with column criticising Mr Trump Anonymous author claimed to be part of "resistance" movement working to thwart President's most dangerous impulses

Anonymous author claimed to be part of "resistance" movement working to thwart President's most dangerous impulses Article follows revelations about upcoming Bob Woodward book that claims aides referred to Mr Trump as an "idiot" and a "liar"

He also said he would participate in any review by the administration following the publication of the New York Times article.

The anonymous writer of the column claimed to be part of a "resistance" movement within the Trump administration that was working quietly behind the scenes to thwart the President's most dangerous impulses.

Some pundits had speculated Mr Pence could be the "senior administration official" who wrote the opinion piece because it included language he has been known to use, like the unusual word "lodestar".

Republican Senator Rand Paul, an ally of Mr Trump, has said the President would be justified in using lie detectors to ferret out the article's author.

A screenshot of the anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times.

The President has yet to say whether he would go that far, but Mr Pence said he would be willing to submit to such an examination.

"I would agree to take it in a heartbeat and would submit to any review the administration wanted to do," he said in a taped interview on Fox News Sunday.

'I know my people'

Mr Pence said whoever wrote the "resistance" article should do the "honourable thing and resign". ( AP: David J Phillip, file )

More than two dozen high-ranking administration officials have denied writing the column, and Mr Pence said his staff had nothing to do with it.

"Let me be very clear. I'm 100 per cent confident that no one on the Vice-President's staff was involved in this anonymous editorial. I know my people," Mr Pence told CBS's Face the Nation.

''They get up every day and are dedicated, just as much as I am, to advancing the President's agenda and supporting everything … President Trump is doing for the people of this country."

Asked whether he had asked his staff about the column, Mr Pence said, "I don't have to ask them because I know them. I know their character.

"I know their dedication and I am absolutely confident that no one on the Vice-President's staff had anything to do with this."

He restated that he thinks the essay writer should do the "honourable thing and resign".

Pence, Conway say they have no idea who wrote column

Both Mr Pence and senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway pushed back during separate television appearances on the portrayals of Mr Trump as anything but a thoughtful leader.

Both also said they had no idea who wrote the piece.

Mr Trump has said he could name up to five people who could have written it.

"What I see is a tough leader, a demanding leader, someone who gets all the options on the table," Mr Pence told Fox News.

"But he makes the decisions, and that's why we've made the progress we've made."

Mr Trump has said the US Justice Department should investigate and unmask the anonymous author.

He cited national security concerns as grounds for what would amount to an extraordinary criminal probe, should Attorney-General Jeff Sessions decide to pursue one.

Neither Mr Pence nor Ms Conway answered directly when asked if Mr Sessions should treat the President's comments as an order.

The Justice Department is supposed to make investigative decisions free of political pressure from the White House and the President.

Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, disagreed that the opinion piece amounted to a national security threat and attributed Mr Trump's musing about a Justice Department investigation "to a president who's lashing out".

Woodward book: Aides called Mr Trump an 'idiot'

A new book by Bob Woodward has also angered the President. ( Simon & Schuster via AP )

Publication of the opinion piece followed the release of stunning details from an upcoming book by Watergate reporter Bob Woodward that claims current and former aides referred to Mr Trump as an "idiot" and "liar" and depicted him as prone to rash policy decisions that some aides either try to stall or derail entirely.

Both releases are said to have infuriated Mr Trump, who unleashed a string of attacks on Woodward's credibility and dismissed the celebrated author's book as a "work of fiction".

Some of the officials featured in the book's anecdotes about the President, including Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, issued statements denying the comments attributed to them by Woodward.

Woodward has said he stands by his reporting. The book, Fear: Trump in the White House, is scheduled to be formally released this week, all but ensuring that the debate over Mr Trump's leadership ability and style will extend into a second straight week.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has denounced the Times opinion piece as "gutless" and its publication as a "disgrace" bordering on treason.

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