NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The author of the 2018 New York Times op-ed warning of a Trump presidency -- written by a then-Trump administration official whose byline was "Anonymous -- has revealed his identity: Former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor.
The White House was quick to respond, with press secretary Kayleigh McEnany calling Taylor an "arrogant deep state operative."
McEnany added in a statement, "This low-level, disgruntled former staffer is a liar and a coward who chose anonymity over action and leaking over leading. 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."
Taylor, a Republican, reveals himself in an essay for Medium called "Why I'm No Longer Anonymous."
"More than two years ago, I published an anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times about Donald Trump's perilous presidency, while I was serving under him," he writes. "He responded with a short but telling tweet: "TREASON?"
Taylor went public with his criticism of Trump this past summer and began appearing on CNN, where he is now a political analyst. He also released a video ahead the Republican National Convention saying the president was unfit for office and endorsed Joe Biden.
"We do not owe the President our silence," Taylor writes. "We owe him and the American people the truth."
He added, "Make no mistake: I am a Republican, and I wanted this President to succeed. That's why I came into the Administration with John Kelly, and it's why I stayed on as Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security. 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. I witnessed Trump's inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years. Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals."
And Taylor writes that he's not alone.
"While I claim sole authorship of the work, the sentiments expressed within it were widely held among officials at the highest levels of the federal government," he writes. "In other words, Trump's own lieutenants were alarmed by his instability."
