“You don’t need a permission slip in the United States to criticize the president,” former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor told NBC News, as he pushed back against what he says is a coordinated federal investigation meant to punish him for speaking out against Donald Trump.
In an exclusive interview, Taylor said he believes Trump is using executive power to retaliate against political enemies, just as Taylor once warned he would.
“My concern was he would turn the government into a revenge machine, and that’s what’s happening.”
Taylor, who famously authored an anonymous 2018 New York Times op-ed and later a memoir detailing internal resistance to Trump, said the federal government has recently contacted people from his past, including high school classmates, suggesting an active investigation is underway. The Justice Department and DHS have declined to comment.
Trump recently signed a presidential memo calling for a review of Taylor’s conduct while at the Department of Homeland Security. Taylor was described in the memo as an “egregious leaker” and accused of potentially “treasonous” conduct—allegations Taylor strongly denies.
“I know I’ve never broken the law,” Taylor said. “You can’t threaten Americans to not exercise their First Amendment rights because they’re fearful the president of the United States will prosecute them.”
The memo has had a profound impact on Taylor’s life. He says he’s been forced to stop working as a cybersecurity consultant, his wife had to return to work early after childbirth, and they’ve adopted new safety measures due to death threats and online harassment.
“My wife has to read online about people saying that they’ll put me in front of a firing squad,” Taylor revealed.
He said some friends now avoid him out of fear of being targeted themselves.
Taylor also rejected any notion of quietly settling with the administration, saying it would be a betrayal of democratic principles.
“That is insidious; that is un-American,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, called the memo a “bludgeon of the bully pulpit” and a violation of civil liberties. He said they’re considering a preemptive legal challenge to halt any improper government action before it escalates.
Meanwhile, another former official, Chris Krebs, who publicly refuted Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims, is also reportedly under investigation following a similar memo. Krebs has not commented.
Taylor and his legal team say they’re prepared to go to court if necessary to defend his constitutional rights, and they hope the judiciary will serve as a firewall against abuse of presidential power.
