The anonymous Trump administration official who penned the tell-all memoir titled A Warning and an anti-Trump Op-Ed in the New York Times was revealed on Wednesday to be Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.
Taylor is currently a contributor to CNN and an adviser at Repair, a group that describes itself as committed to “refocusing the Republican Party’s priorities, and repairing the American republic.”
Taylor also appears to have worked with Republican Voters Against Trump, a political organizing group. The former official endorsed Joe Biden for president in August.
“Make no mistake: I am a Republican, and I wanted this President to succeed,” Taylor wrote in a statement posted on the blog site Medium. “But too often in times of crisis, I saw Donald Trump prove he is a man without character, and his personal defects have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives.”
The White House immediately hit back at Taylor.
“This low-level, disgruntled former staffer is a liar and a coward who chose anonymity over action and leaking over leading,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany commented in a statement. “He was ineffective and incompetent during his time as DHS Chief of Staff which is why he was promptly fired.”
Both CNN and Vice asked Taylor in August whether he was “Anonymous,” and in both instances Taylor issued a denial.
“I wear a mask for two things, Anderson: Halloween and pandemics. So, no,” says @MilesTaylorUSA, when asked by @AndersonCooper if he is the author of the op-ed book written by someone called Anonymous. pic.twitter.com/sPjs4OoAnp
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) August 21, 2020