They will never name names... Because it isn't really about "names". Even if you were able to pin down a name or two, those slots would be filled up immediately by others who are responding to the same incentives. There's a sort of consultancy class that tries to figure out the best path forward for whatever goal they're trying to acheive. In most cases, that goal is controlling more power.
So, they know what their bosses want to hear and they have an incentive to give their bosses good work. But it would be incorrect to assume that their bosses are pulling the strings. It's a mentality and an incentive structure that is pulling the strings. I think back to Mises' book Bureaucracy that describes the differing incentives that people respond to. Once bureaucratic incentives overtake market incentives, the game is already lost.
When this guy talks about "back east", he's talking about the group mentality that is responding to those bureaucratic incentives. There's a whole team of people who think the same way. Made up of consultants, bureaucrats, politicians, and other political operatives. It's the Soviet-style politburo and at the very top, they all look at each other trying to figure out what the other guys are thinking and the goal is to not be the odd one out.