Former Trump administration official says he wrote an ‘anonymous’ op-ed

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A former Trump administration official who wrote a scathing op-ed and book against Trump under the pseudonym “Anonymous” made his identity public Wednesday.

Miles Taylor, former chief of staff for the Department of Homeland Security, tweeted: “Donald Trump is a man without character. This is why I wrote ‘A Warning’ … and this is why my colleagues and I have spoken out against it (on our own behalf) for months. It’s time for everyone to come out of the shadows. “

Speaking at a rally in Goodyear, Arizona, shortly after Taylor acknowledged that he was the writer, Trump fired the former administration official as “a nobody, a disgruntled employee.”

Taylor has been an outspoken critic of Trump in recent months and had repeatedly denied that he was the author of the column, even to colleagues at CNN, where he has a collaborator contract.

He left the Trump administration in June and endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president this summer.

In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Taylor a “low-level and disgruntled former staff member” who “is a liar and a coward who chose anonymity over the action and the leaks. on leadership. “

“This is everything people hate about Washington: two-faced liars who push their own agendas at the expense of the People,” he later tweeted. “This is the epitome of the swamp!”

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows called Taylor’s reveal “a monumental embarrassment”, tweeting: “I’ve seen more exciting revelations in the Scooby-Doo episodes.”

Taylor’s anonymous essay was published in 2018 by The New York Times, enraging the president and sparking a frenzied investigation of leaks at the White House to try to unmask the author.

In the essay, the person, who identified himself only as a senior administration official, said he was part of a secret “resistance” force to counter Trump’s “wrong impulses” and undermine parts of his agenda.

The author wrote: “Many Trump appointees have pledged to do everything they can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Trump’s most misguided impulses until he leaves office.”

The newspaper, which said it had granted Taylor anonymity because his work would be compromised if his identity were revealed, confirmed on Wednesday that Taylor was the author because he had waived his right to confidentiality and had no further comment.

The accusations enraged the president, reinforcing his accusations about a “deep state” operating within his government and conspiring against him.

And it set off a guessing game that leaked into the White House, with current and former employees exchanging calls and texts, trying to figure out who might have written the article.

Former Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor, right, made his identity public Wednesday (Tim Godbee / Department of Homeland Security via AP)

Trump, who had long complained of leaks at the White House, also ordered his aides to unmask the writer, citing “national security” concerns to justify a possible Justice Department investigation.

And he issued an extraordinary demand for the newspaper to reveal the author.

Instead, the author went ahead, writing a follow-up book published last November called “A Warning” that continued to paint a disturbing picture of the president, describing him as volatile, incompetent and incapable of being commander-in-chief.

In an essay published Wednesday on Medium.com, Taylor said she published the op-ed and book anonymously because she wanted the focus to be on the arguments, rather than who was writing them.

“We have the answer,” he wrote. “He got mad. And the ideas stood by themselves. “

Taylor said the nation could no longer depend on bureaucrats to steer Trump toward what is right, as “he’s purged most of them anyway.”

“He doesn’t deserve a second term in office,” he wrote, “and we don’t deserve to live it.”



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