- Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, on Wednesday revealed that he was the anonymous author of the 2018 New York Times op-ed article that said there was a "resistance" in the Trump administration.
- "We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the American people the truth," Taylor said in a statement.
- Taylor endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in August and launched an anti-Trump Republican group.
Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff, on Wednesday revealed that he was the author of the 2018 New York Times op-ed article with an anonymous byline that described a "resistance" in the Trump White House.
He was also the anonymous official who wrote "A Warning," a 2019 book critical of the administration.
"Donald Trump is a man without character," Taylor said in a tweet. "It's why I wrote 'A Warning'...and it's why me & my colleagues have spoken out against him (in our own names) for months. It's time for everyone to step out of the shadows."
Taylor released a statement explaining why he's "no longer 'Anonymous.'"
"We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the American people the truth," Taylor wrote, adding: "I witnessed Trump's inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years. Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals."
Taylor said that he was still a Republican and that he joined the administration because he wanted the president to succeed. He went on to characterize Trump as extraordinarily unfit to be the commander in chief.
The president's "personal defects have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives," Taylor wrote.
Numerous former Trump administration officials in top positions have offered sharp criticisms of the president's approach to the job — something Taylor noted in his statement as he urged Americans to speak out against Trump and vote him out of office.
"As descendants of revolutionaries, honest dissent is part of our American character, and we must reject the culture of political intimidation that's been cultivated by this President," Taylor said. "That's why I'm writing this note — to urge you to speak out if you haven't. While I hope a few more Trump officials will quickly find their consciences, your words are now more important than theirs."
Taylor added, "You can speak loudest with your vote and persuade others with your voice."
In August, Taylor, who was at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president.
He's been publicly critical of Trump for months and previously denied that he was the official who wrote the 2018 op-ed article. The former top-ranking government official is also leading an anti-Trump group called the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform.
In February, Victoria Coates, a top official on the National Security Council, was reassigned, sent to be a senior advisor in the Department of Energy, after rumors spread that she was the anonymous author. The White House at the time denied that she was being booted from the White House over the rumors.
In a statement on Wednesday, Coates said she was "pleased that the bizarre and malicious allegation that I am 'Anonymous' has finally been definitively refuted."
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany in a Wednesday statement referred to Taylor as a "low-level, disgruntled former staffer" who is a "liar and a coward."
And Trump went after Taylor on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
"Who is Miles Taylor? Said he was 'anonymous', but I don't know him - never even heard of him. Just another @nytimes SCAM - he worked in conjunction with them. Also worked for Big Tech's @Google. Now works for Fake News @CNN. They should fire, shame, and punish everybody," Trump said.
Though the president claimed he's never heard of the former Homeland Security official, he tweeted about Taylor in August.
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