Ex-Homeland Security official Taylor fights back against Trump's
'unprecedented' investigation order
[June 03, 2025]
By REBECCA SANTANA
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Homeland Security official during President
Donald Trump's first administration who authored an anonymous op-ed
sharply critical of the president is calling on independent government
watchdogs to investigate after Trump ordered the department to look into
his government service.
Miles Taylor, once chief of staff at the Department of Homeland
Security, warned in an interview with The Associated Press of the
far-reaching implications of Trump's April 9 memorandum, “Addressing
Risks Associated with an Egregious Leaker and Disseminator of
Falsehoods,” when it comes to suppressing criticism of the president.
That memo accused Taylor of concocting stories to sell his book and
directed the secretary of Homeland Security and other government
agencies to look into Taylor and strip him of any security clearances.
Taylor sent a letter via email to inspectors general at the departments
of Justice and Homeland Security on Tuesday.
Coming on the same April day that Trump also ordered an investigation
into Chris Krebs, a former top cybersecurity official, the dual
memoranda illustrated how Trump has sought to use the powers of the
presidency against his adversaries. Speaking to the AP, Taylor said the
order targeting him sets a “scary precedent" and that's why he decided
to call on the inspectors general to investigate.
“I didn’t commit any crime, and that’s what’s extraordinary about this.
I can’t think of any case where someone knows they’re being investigated
but has absolutely no idea what crime they allegedly committed. And it’s
because I didn’t,” Taylor said. He called it a “really, really, really
scary precedent to have set is that the president of the United States
can now sign an order investigating any private citizen he wants, any
critic, any foe, anyone."
Trump has targeted adversaries since he took office
Since taking office again in January, Trump has stripped security
clearances from a number of his opponents. But Trump’s order for an
investigation into Taylor, as well as Krebs, marked an escalation of his
campaign of retribution in his second term.
Trump fired Krebs, who directed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency, in November 2020 after Krebs disputed the Republican
president’s unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud and vouched for the
integrity of the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Taylor left the first Trump administration in 2019. In the anonymous New
York Times op-ed published in 2018, he described himself as part of a
secret “resistance” to counter Trump’s “misguided impulses." The op-ed's
publication touched off a leak investigation in Trump’s first White
House.
Taylor later published a book by the same name as the op-ed and then
another book under his own name called “Blowback," which warned about
Trump's return to office.
After signing the memorandum April 9, Trump said Taylor was likely
“guilty of treason.”
[to top of second column]
|
In this March 5, 2019, photo, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, left, talks
with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, right, and her
chief of staff Miles Taylor depart after the Republican Caucus
luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon),
File)
The letter by Taylor's lawyer to the inspectors general calls
Trump's actions “unprecedented in American history.”
“The Memorandum does not identify any specific wrongdoing. Rather,
it flagrantly targets Mr. Taylor for one reason alone: He dared to
speak out to criticize the President,” the letter reads.
Taylor's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the request to the inspectors
general was an attempt to “get the administration to do the right
thing.” Lowell said that depending on the outcome of their
complaint, they'll explore other options including a possible
lawsuit. Lowell, a veteran Washington lawyer, announced earlier this
year that he was opening his own legal practice and would represent
targets of Trump’s retribution.
Violation of First Amendment rights alleged
In the letter, Lowell calls on the inspectors general to do their
jobs of “addressing and preventing abuses of power.”
The letter says Trump's April 9 memo appears to violate Taylor's
First Amendment rights by going after Taylor for his criticism of
the president, calling it a “textbook definition of political
retribution and vindictive prosecution.” And, according to the
letter, Trump's memo also appears to violate Taylor's Fifth
Amendment due process rights.
The letter highlights Taylor's “honorable and exemplary” work
service including receiving the Distinguished Service Medal upon
leaving the department, and it details the toll that the April 9
memorandum has taken on Taylor's personal life. His family has been
threatened and harassed, and former colleagues lost their government
jobs because of their connection with him, according to the letter.
Taylor told the AP that since the order, there's been an “implosion
in our lives.” He said he started a fund to pay for legal fees, has
had to step away from work and his wife has gone back to work to
help pay the family's bills. Their home's location was published on
the internet in a doxxing.
Taylor said that by filing these complaints with the inspectors
general, he's anticipating that the pressure on him and his family
will increase. He said they spent the last few weeks debating what
to do after the April 9 memorandum and decided to fight back.
“The alternative is staying silent, cowering and capitulating and
sending the message that, yes, there’s no consequences for this
president and this administration in abusing their powers in ways
that my legal team believes and a lot of legal scholars tell me is
unconstitutional and illegal,” Taylor said.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
