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Former homeland security officials, accused of President Donald Trump of potentially “rebellious” behaviour, fearing he is on a federal investigation, and plan to challenge what is called an illegal attempt to silence critics.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Miles Taylor said he was ready to “fight back” in court and that his repeated warnings that Trump would use the power of the president to retaliate against a perceived political enemy proved accurate.
“My concern is that he will turn the government into a revenge plane and that’s what’s going on,” Taylor said.
Since the president signed a memorandum of understanding last month asking for Taylor to review Taylor’s conduct as the Homeland Security Agency during Trump’s first term, government officials have contacted former high school classmates associated with him, Taylor said.
“I’ve seen signs that they’re there. I’ve been running around my past, talking to people all the way through high school, trying to stare at my life,” he said.
Taylor and his lawyers said it was unknown what the federal investigation was focused on, and it was unknown that the agency was doing it.
The Department of Justice and Homeland Security declined to comment.
During Trump’s first tenure in office, Taylor wrote anonymous operations. Many senior administration officials have said they are trying to limit Trump’s worst impulses and protect the country’s democratic system from the president. Taylor later published an anonymous memoir, and in 2020 he opposed Trump’s reelection.
In a December interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, President Trump said he would not instruct the Justice Department to investigate his political opponents. Asked in an interview from Welker that aired the changes on Sunday, Trump replied, “Well, no, I’m just looking at people, I don’t direct anyone.”
Taylor denied fraud and said he was chosen to express his opinion.
“I know I’ve never broken the law, I know I’ve been avid supporter of my national security obligations,” Taylor said. “What people need to know is that they don’t need permission slips in the US to criticize the president.”
“My concern is that he will turn the government into a revenge plane and that’s what’s going on,” Taylor said. (NBC News)
Given his track record of criticizing Trump, Taylor said he would be expected to be called by the president at some point. However, he said the memorandum turned the life of his family overturning, forcing him to effectively halt his work as a cybersecurity consultant, and demanding that his wife return to work sooner than planned after the birth of the baby.
They adopted additional safety measures for online threats and Vitriol directed towards Taylor, and updated their will on security expert advice, he said. “My wife has to read online about people who say they’ll put me in front of the shooting squad,” Taylor said.
Meanwhile, some friends are reluctant to have a relationship with him to avoid blowback. “People are scared to talk to you because they’re worried they’ll lose their livelihood,” he said.
Taylor said his public stance on Trump came at personal and professional costs, but he and his wife did not intend to seek a modest settlement with the administration.
“Of course, it never crossed our hearts for us to try and settle,” Taylor said. “And what I’m worried about is that they’re going to use this tactic, this tactic is to silence people by threatening and calming them down together with the White House.
Taylor added: “It’s insidious. It’s not Americans. You can’t threaten Americans not to exercise their First Amendment rights.
Another former senior official who served Trump’s first term and was subject to similar presidential memo Chris Krebs, said last week he was undergoing an unspecified federal law enforcement investigation. Krebs declined to comment.
Trump targeted Taylor and Krebs in two memos issued on April 9, revoking their security clearance and ordered the Attorney General to carry out a review of government actions. As Chief Cybersecurity Officer, Krebs refuted Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was “equipped,” saying there was no evidence of massive fraud or tampering with votes at the time.
In his memo, Trump described Taylor as a “severe leaker” who could be “uncomfortable” and potentially violated espionage. But Taylor said it’s not a crime for him to stay in the law all the time, support national security and criticize the president.
Taylor’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the president’s memo represents an unprecedented, unconstitutional attempt to use administrative authorities to target American citizens. He and Taylor’s legal team were weighing the legal response, so it’s not necessarily waiting for the government to take its first step in court, Lowell said.
“I think what we’ve seen over the last 100 days is that people realize that if the law is right, they can ask the court to be guardians of the rule of law,” Lowell told NBC News. “They are getting aggressive and asking the courts to govern beforehand. That’s what we’re seeing.”
Lowell, who represents many clients, including Hunter Biden and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, said he hopes the judges protect his client’s civil liberties and be vigilant against potentially inappropriate requests from administrative investigators.
“I don’t think it’s going to stop at miles, but I think Miles is a good test case if the system works,” he said.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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