I was wrong. I couldn’t have been more wrong. During the night three known terrorist groups had released a joint statement claiming credit for “the first unified attack on the American homeland.” What made it believable was the inclusion of the names and photographs of the “martyrs of New York,” as well as previously undisclosed details about the bombing at Pearl Harbor and the cyber-destruction of the Old River Control Structure.

The fact that this statement did not praise the so-called terrorists killed in the Detroit raid was a strong indication they were not involved. Kaufman had made some vague statement that American intelligence agencies had not confirmed these claims, but I could just imagine the panic inside the White House as they searched for a link, any link, between these terrorists and Detroit.

This had the makings of a supersize colonoscopy for Wrightman. A lot of people were going to be looking way up the administration’s derriere to see if it had committed convenient killings. Blowing up that house in Detroit might be blowing up in their face. If it could be proved that the president had acted to turn down the political heat, he was cooked.

“Cher,” I commanded, “come here, please.” Mighty Chair rolled over to the side of my bed. I maneuvered myself into it, then felt a need to apologize. “Cher, I’m sorry I snapped at you. I guess I forgot to give you a wake-up time.”

Cher did not respond. But I felt better.

A large Dunkin’ was sitting in my place when I walked into the conference room about an hour later. “Come on in, Rollie, take a seat,” Howie said pleasantly, our little joke. “Cher, good morning to you.”

Cher recognized his voice. “Good morning, Howie,” she replied.

Stephanie Ruhle was reporting soundlessly on the monitor in the front of the room. The chyron running at the bottom of the screen summed it up: MULTIPLE TERRORIST GROUPS CLAIM ALLIANCE FOR ATTACKS: NO INDICATION DETROIT INVOLVEMENT.

“So what do you think?” Howie asked.

Nodding toward me, Frankie B. said, “I think I’d like to be that mother’s lawyer right now.”

Howie ignored him. “The president is lying to the American people. Quel surprise.”

I sipped my cold coffee. “Why bother this time?” I wondered. “What’s the gain?”

“You’re the reporter,” Howie pointed out. “I’m the boss. You figure it out.”

Throughout the day additional reports from foreign intelligence services confirmed the initial claims. Three different terrorist organizations, under the banner Brotherhood United for Freedom, had planned and financed the operations and put their people in the field. Not surprisingly, several previously unknown terrorist organizations also tried to grab some credit. Whether or not they actually were involved, this was an attention-getting, fundraising, volunteer-building opportunity. Which of course is precisely what our politicians would have done.

Kaufman issued another vague statement. Standing on Conway’s Corner, the same spot on the White House front lawn where several years earlier Kellyanne Conway had given us the Orwellian concept of “alternative facts,” she said, “We need to show these terrorists that they can’t terrorize us. The president urges all Americans to show their courage by doing the normal things.” (Historical aside: A reporter named Tom Robbins had dubbed that place Conway’s Corner. It was an expansive grass-covered area. Referring to it as a corner, Robbins had explained, was simply “an example of an alternative fact.”)