The former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday revealed himself as “Anonymous,” the administration official who wrote an unsigned 2018 op-ed in The New York Times and a subsequent 2019 book critical of President Donald Trump.
Miles Taylor, who resigned from the department in 2019, announced he is “Anonymous” in a tweet, according to Bloomberg News.
The 2018 op-ed criticized Trump’s reckless decision-making and the author claimed he is part of a "resistance" group working to thwart Trump's worst impulses.
The piece claimed that “many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”
Taylor published the book “A Warning” last year, describing a “broken” White House led by an “amoral” president, which set Washington abuzz trying to figure out the author’s identity.
Taylor wrote Wednesday that deciding to criticize the president anonymously “wasn’t easy” but that the choice forced Trump to answer his critiques “on their merits or not at all, rather than creating distractions through petty insults and name-calling.”
“Nevertheless, I made clear I wasn’t afraid to criticize the president under my name,” Taylor added. “In fact, I pledged to do so. That is why I’ve already been vocal throughout the general election.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany later described Taylor as a low-ranking official who should have never been granted anonymity to speak out against Trump.
“This low-level, disgruntled former staffer is a liar and a coward who chose anonymity over action and leaking over leading,” McEnany said in a statement. “He was ineffective and incompetent during his time as DHS Chief of Staff which is why he was promptly fired after only serving in this role for a matter of weeks.”
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows mocked Taylor on Twitter and wrote, “I’ve seen more exciting reveals in Scooby-Doo episodes. What a monumental embarrassment.”
Trump also weighed in on the revelation that Taylor was “Anonymous” and said he had never heard of him.
“Who is Miles Taylor? Said he was ‘anonymous’, but I don’t know him - never even heard of him. Just another New York Times 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 associated with this FRAUD on the American people!” he tweeted.
After the op-ed was published in 2018, Trump said in an that it was "virtually" an act of treason.
He later called on then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate and uncover the identity of “Anonymous”.