Former Homeland Safety official Miles Taylor says he’ll “not shut up” after President Donald Trump ordered the Division of Justice to examine him for supposed treason over an “anonymous” opinion piece he wrote whereas below Trump’s first administration.
The previous official outlined his eight-point plan of motion on social media earlier this week.
“1. First, I will not shut up,” Taylor wrote Monday on X, the platform previously generally known as Twitter. “No threat, no investigation, no retaliatory order will work. I’ll keep writing, speaking, and showing up, not in spite of the pressure, but because of it.”
Taylor used a pseudonym to shred the president’s “amorality” in an essay for The New York Occasions in 2018, wherein he described himself as a senior official and a part of the “resistance.” Taylor later revealed himself because the essay writer, prompting Trump to take excessive measures earlier this yr.
The president wrote in a memorandum in April that Taylor’s conduct may need been a “treasonous” violation of the Espionage Act and directed the secretary of Homeland Safety to research his actions as a authorities worker.
Taylor, who served as chief of workers to Trump’s former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, rebuffed him on the time — and continued to take action Monday.
“2. I will not apologize for telling the truth,” he wrote. “I’ll never say sorry for warning about Trump’s attempts to abuse his power, bribe government officials, or sabotage his fellow citizens. In fact, I’ll continue to hold that mirror to his face, proudly, every chance I get.”
Taylor was notably included within the “Random Enemies List” of the 2023 e book “Government Gangsters.” Written by Trump loyalist-turned-FBI Director Kash Patel, it outlines a imaginative and prescient for cracking down on these deemed to be a part of the nebulous “deep state.”
Taylor prefaced his enumerated plan of resilience Monday by noting that the president “is accelerating his revenge campaign” and acknowledging that he’s “on his enemies list.” The besieged former official mentioned he’s “not afraid” of retribution — and went even additional.
“In fact, I plan to keep defying his petulant, wannabe-dictator tantrums,” wrote Taylor.
Tim Godbee/Division of Homeland Safety/Related Press
He moreover vowed to not faux that the Trump administration’s vindictive actions are something however “actual authoritarianism, wrapped in the American flag,” to face “vocally in solidarity with others on the enemies list” and to not succumb to mounting authorized strain.
“Trump aides said I was targeted to ‘send a message,’” wrote Taylor. “Well, let me send a message in return. I won’t be a cautionary tale. I’ll be a counterexample and show how being targeted by Trump can be used as a way to get others to stand against him.”
Taylor additional promised to proceed organizing politically towards Trump, telling his followers that whistleblowers have to be defended if democracy is to outlive and that there’s “strength in numbers.”
“I will not fear,” he wrote in his remaining put up. “Fear is the oxygen that fuels autocracy. I won’t give in to them. I’ve been threatened, defamed, doxxed, stalked, harassed, & attacked. Now I’m being investigated by my gov’t for free speech. If I was going to fold, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”
