It could be Coats because he was on the Senate Intelligence Committee and so probably has close ties with a lot of deep state types in the CIA. I’m guessing it’s somebody lower level, though, as it reads like someone inflating their importance.
I suspect the article was written in house by DNC operatives and published only after senior Democrats had read a first draft and commented on it.
Pence is essentially a Trump loyalist and even sleepy Jeff is probably more of a dud than a gator. Just because you fell out of a canoe in the swamp does not make you a swamp creature.