‘Dark path’: Ex-national security official speaks out after Trump labels him a 'traitor'

Former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor sounded off moments after Donald Trump signed an executive order directing his Department of Justice to investigate the one-time aide who the president said Wednesday was “guilty of treason.”

Trump used an Oval Office signing ceremony to take aim at Taylor for what he said were “terrible things” Taylor wrote in a New York Times op-ed under the pseudonym "Anonymous" where he claimed to be part of the so-called resistance while a member of the president’s first administration

"And I think he's guilty of treason, if you want to know the truth. But we'll find out. And I assume we're recommending this to the Department of Justice,” Trump said, later calling Taylor “a traitor.”

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Taylor, who also served in the George W. Bush administration, was quick to respond in a social media post where he warned of the ominous message Trump’s order sent.

“I said this would happen,” Taylor told his X followers on Wednesday. “Dissent isn’t unlawful. It certainly isn’t treasonous. America is headed down a dark path.”

“Never has a man so inelegantly proved another man’s point.”

In addition to Taylor, Trump also signed a similar order targeting his former DHS cybersecurity director, Chris Krebbs.