Form of a Verb Following 'Rather Than'

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Nicholas Casey and Jo Becker, Ecuador Battled Threats of Leaks in Aiding Assange; Tensions at Embassy; President loses patience after private details are published. New York Times, Apr 13, 2019 (front-page top report).
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/ ... ange-wikileaks.html

Quote:

(q) "The secrets came directly from the phones of President Lenín Moreno of Ecuador: intimate pictures of him and his family on vacation, text messages from his wife, even a photograph of the president himself in a posh bedroom, eating a lobster in bed.

"The material, published last month on an anonymous website, was particularly embarrassing because Mr Moreno was in a bruising national fight over his austerity measures. But rather than mount a defense, the president played the victim: He blamed WikiLeaks, whose founder, Julian Assange, had spent the last seven years holed up in the country's London embassy.

"WikiLeaks' actions were 'despicable,' said the country's vice president on television, vowing to take action. The group denied leaking the information, but on Thursday Ecuador made good on its threat — opening the door to British police officers who carted away Mr Assange.

"With that, Mr Assange's long [7-year] refuge inside the Ecuadorean Embassy finally came to an end * * *

(b) "WikiLeaks insisted it was not involved in the hack of Mr Moreno's phones, and that the Ecuadorean government was using the episode as a false pretext to toss out Mr. Assange.

Note:
(a) the online title: As Ecuador Harbored Assange, It Was Subjected to Threats and Leaks.
(b) "But rather than mount a defense, the president played the victim: He blamed WikiLeaks"

Rather than: Alternatives and Preferences. Cambridge Dictioonary, undated.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org ... bs-of-degree/rather