Prior to Donald Trump's attack on Iran, which has grown into a war with no end in sight, there is no indication that the White House alerted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which, since its founding, has been tasked with preventing retaliatory attacks in the US.
Appearing on MS NOW with host Anna Cabrera, former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor claimed that, from what he has heard from staffers at the agency under now-fired DHS head Kristi Noem, they all were kept in the dark.
Brought on to talk about Noem’s ouster and the selection of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Ok) to replace her, Taylor instead warned that the county is now at risk after the way Noem, with Trump’s blessing, has changed the emphasis at DHS from national security to immigration enforcement.
According to Taylor, the failure to bring all stakeholders in and explain what was about to transpire in Iran was, and is, dangerous.
“When we are in a war that's a really, really big deal,” he told the host. “And you don't have to play the violin for Kristi Noem to say that’s a reckless and irresponsible thing to do.”
“There's a bigger question here, too,” he emphasized, “which is, did the Department of Homeland Security even know strikes were going to happen against Iran? Was Kristi Noem or her team even brought in to conversations to prepare for this? I have seen no indication; no one at DHS has told me that has happened.”
“That, in and of itself, is reckless,” he warned. “So Markwayne Mullin, if he does get confirmed, is coming into a department unlike any other secretary of Homeland Security ever before. We've never had a new secretary confirmed in the middle of a war where the possibility of imminent attack is happening. That's very, very serious.”