On Wednesday, former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor revealed himself to be "Anonymous," the op-ed writer who vowed resistance from within the Trump administration in 2018 and penned a book the following year. Previously, the author was identified only as a "senior Trump administration official."
"Much has been made of the fact that these writings were published anonymously," Taylor wrote in a statement posted to Medium. "The decision wasn’t easy, I wrestled with it, and I understand why some people consider it questionable to levy such serious charges against a sitting President under the cover of anonymity."
According to Taylor, the reason he chose to remain anonymous for so long was to force the president to address the accusations he leveled head-on and deny Trump the ability to engage in an ad hominem attack against his accuser.
Donald Trump is a man without character. It’s why I wrote “A Warning”...and it’s why me & my colleagues have spoken out against him (in our own names) for months. It’s time for everyone to step out of the shadows. My statement: https://t.co/yuhTgZ4bkq
— Miles Taylor (@MilesTaylorUSA) October 28, 2020
Trump Campaign Press Secretary Hogan Gidley called the news the "least impressive, lamest political 'reveal' of all time."
"I worked with DHS officials while I was in the White House, and even I had to research who Miles Taylor was," Gidley said in a statement. "He’s just another standard-issue arrogant, Washington, DC swamp bro who loved President Trump until he figured out he could try to make money by attacking him."
Gidley points out that Taylor lied to Anderson Cooper on CNN when asked if he was the writer behind "Anonymous," and contrasts Taylor to Tony Bobulinksi, the U.S. Navy veteran who has come forward under his true name to point "the finger at a real corrupt politician, Joe Biden."
"The very fact that the Beltway media cared about and hyped up 'Anonymous' just emphasizes how derelict they are when they totally ignore the readily visible Biden pay-to-play scandal unfolding before their eyes," Gidley said.
Promoting his book in Nov. 2019, the "Anonymous" writer revealed in a Reddit forum that he did not plan to remain anonymous forever.
"As far as anonymity is concerned, I will not keep my identity shrouded in secrecy forever," the author wrote at the time.
When the "Anonymous" op-ed was published by The New York Times in Sep. 2018, then-White House counselor Kellyanne Conway accurately predicted "Anonymous" would eventually come foreword or be outed by another individual.
“Cowards are like criminals," Conway said. "They eventually suss out themselves because they eventually confess or brag to the wrong person, and I suspect that’s what will happen here."
Vice President Mike Pence has said the "Anonymous" author "should resign" for violating their oath to the Constitution.
"They're literally violating an oath," Pence said. "If they're that senior administration official, they're violating an oath, not to the president, but to the Constitution."
Taylor worked as a national security advisor for the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans before joining President Trump's DHS in 2017.
Taylor, who served as chief of staff to former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, left the administration in Nov. 2019 after alleging that President Trump offered pardons to staffers who broke the law in order to carry out the president's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
Following his departure, Taylor went to work for Google on issues of national security and government affairs.