Whistleblower aide Miles Taylor files formal complaint over Trump's retaliation

Former Trump administration security official and whistleblower Miles Taylor is filing a formal complaint with the inspectors general of the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, alleging that President Donald Trump's memorandum declaring him a "traitor" and suspending his security clearance is unconstitutional retaliation against a political critic.

In a new article in Time Magazine, Taylor, who famously authored the anonymous "resistance" op-ed in The New York Times during the first Trump administration, outlined his reasoning and why he refuses to back down.

"I served in the first Trump Administration and sounded the alarm about the abuses of power I saw firsthand, first by blowing the whistle anonymously and then publicly. I warned that if Trump returned to power, he would use the presidency to punish his critics. This warning was not rhetorical. I said it would be a 'revenge machine' against individuals and institutions alike," wrote Taylor. "Since then, the Trump White House has been busy proving my point."

Taylor already spoke out against Trump's targeting back in April.

"This is much bigger than me. This is about whether we will allow the President — any president, of any political party — to criminalize criticism. That’s why this Inspector General complaint matters," wrote Taylor. "Inspectors General are supposed to be the immune system of American democracy. They exist inside our federal agencies to investigate misconduct and prevent the abuse of government authority. They are not prosecutors, and they do not issue verdicts. But they shine a light in the dark, especially when public officials try to exploit their offices to advance political ends."

Trump has been aware of the power of inspectors general to investigate wrongdoing, which is why he ordered several of them fired near the beginning of his presidency.

The ultimate question, Taylor concluded, is "Will the system be able to protect Americans from political retaliation? Or have the guardrails corroded so badly that anyone now faces the prospect of the President’s pen becoming a sword? This isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s happening — right here in America. And only a handful of institutions remain to stop it."

The president has not limited his attacks to Taylor, but weaponized the revocation of security clearances against a number of his perceived enemies, including law firms that represented anti-Trump clients. Several of those orders are under litigation.