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Former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor says he will “not shut up” after President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Justice to investigate him for supposed treason over an “anonymous” opinion piece he wrote while under Trump’s first administration.
The former official outlined his eight-point plan of action on social media earlier this week.
“1. First, I will not shut up,” Taylor wrote Monday on X, the platform formerly 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.”
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Taylor used a pseudonym to shred the president’s “amorality” in an essay for The New York Times in 2018, in which he described himself as a senior official and part of the “resistance.” Taylor later revealed himself as the essay author, prompting Trump to take extreme measures earlier this year.
The president wrote in a memorandum in April that Taylor’s conduct might have been a “treasonous” violation of the Espionage Act and directed the secretary of Homeland Security to investigate his actions as a government employee.
Taylor, who served as chief of staff to Trump’s former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, rebuffed him at the time — and continued to do so Monday.
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“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 in the “Random Enemies List” of the 2023 book “Government Gangsters.” Written by Trump loyalist-turned-FBI Director Kash Patel, it outlines a vision for cracking down on those deemed to be 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 is “on his enemies list.” The besieged former official said he’s “not afraid” of retribution — and went even further.
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“In fact, I plan to keep defying his petulant, wannabe-dictator tantrums,” wrote Taylor.
He additionally vowed not to pretend that the Trump administration’s vindictive actions are anything but “actual authoritarianism, wrapped in the American flag,” to stand “vocally in solidarity with others on the enemies list” and not to succumb to mounting legal pressure.
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“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.”
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Taylor further promised to continue organizing politically against Trump, telling his followers that whistleblowers must be defended if democracy is to survive and that there is “strength in numbers.”
“I will not fear,” he wrote in his final post. “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.”