Leaker reveals DC 'elites' afraid as Trump’s scheme collapses

On Tuesday, after the Supreme Court delivered a massive blow to President Donald Trump’s war on mail-in voting the previous evening, a whistleblower from his first term revealed that not only is the administration’s “Orwellian scheme” to meddle in the midterms falling apart, but the “elites” are gripped by a growing fear that there will be consequences for their crimes. This is according to Miles Taylor, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s previous presidency, at the time leaking a number of internal events. According to Taylor, the public has its pitchforks out, and the politicians know it.

“I do not want any president, of any political party, to have the ability to track my vote,” writes Taylor. “I do not want any president, of any political party, to be able to remove my ballot from the mail for any reason whatsoever. And I do not want any president, of any political party, to put a thumb on the scales of an election through backdoor bureaucratic maneuvering that could be kept secret until after the vote, or potentially forever.” To that end, “thankfully, the high court blocked Trump’s Orwellian scheme to do exactly that — to be able to track-and-snatch ballots through the mail.”

This is in reference to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a lower court order barring the implementation of Trump’s executive order that would wrangle power over mail-in ballots from states to the executive branch. Many have suggested not only that the order would have allowed Trump loyalists in the U.S. Postal Service to disqualify votes and disenfranchise voters, but could have played a key role in his attempt to deny the midterm results should the Democrats come out ahead as projected, allowing the administration to claim individual states hadn’t followed the order correctly, providing legal justification for rejecting the outcome of unfavorable races. But while the majority of justices sided against this effort, the ruling wasn’t as cut-and-dry a victory for democracy as it might seem.

“At least three justices of the United States Supreme Court signaled they might someday be open to endowing the presidency with such power,” notes Taylor. “Justices Thomas and Alito would’ve let it proceed, and although Justice Kavanaugh voted to block it, he wrote that a future version might well be lawful. As such, this is a morning for relief rather than celebration. It reminds me that we have to stay geared up for this fight, because we’re potentially a few judicial votes away from a death knell for our democracy. Indeed, I’m less heartened by the Supreme Court’s action than I am by my fellow Americans.”

Taylor explains that he’s currently in D.C. working on a documentary about political corruption, over the course of which he’s come to realize that the city “is filled with worried elites who see the people standing at the city limits holding pitchforks. On Capitol Hill as the sun was setting, I put the same interview question to a bunch of members of Congress as they were scurrying across the street to go vote. I asked them about a recent Gallup survey showing that 89 percent of Americans believe corruption is widespread in the U.S. government, a record high (and the first time our country has topped the entire developed world in perceived corruption). I expected the question to catch them off guard. Instead, their faces told me that staff had shared that figure with them already. Depending on their party, the looks I got ranged from sheepish to alarmed.”

According to Taylor, “The fear among Washington’s elite class is palpable. They know the people are angry, and they hear the same numbers I do. Americans are turning against the elected demagogues who think they can whistle God Bless America while chipping away at our democratic rights and getting richer off of their government service. The voters see plainly that Donald Trump is the figurehead of this corruption — a man who’s tried to take away their ballots while pocketing billions in office — and how Republicans have stood by and watched. Cheered, even. How can any of those politicians be surprised by the angry masses gathering at the edge of town?”