As President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to indict the president's political opponents, some of Trump's loudest critics fear they may soon find themselves in court.
NBC News reported Tuesday that former members of Trump's first administration who have criticized him are now wondering if they'll be next in line for criminal prosecutions — particularly after the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday made a criminal referral to the DOJ to charge former CIA Director John Brennan.
One of those Trump critics is Miles Taylor, who was a high-ranking Department of Homeland Security official in the first Trump administration. He recalled finding his wife "in tears and shaking" after receiving a death threat calling for her husband to face a firing squad just days after Trump issued a memo calling Taylor an "egregious leaker and disseminator of falsehoods."
"You don't know if that person is down the street who wants you in a firing squad or if it's a keyboard warrior who just wants to upset you," Taylor told NBC. "It really rocks you and your family members to get those messages."
Taylor was revealed to be the author of a 2018 op-ed published anonymously in thew New York Times talking about being part of the "resistance inside the Trump administration." He told the network that despite the possibility of an indictment, he doesn't plan on tamping down criticism of his former boss.
"I haven't threatened anyone with violence," Taylor said. "I haven't committed any crimes. I've expressed a very strong political opinion about the president of the United States, and the consequences have been the destruction of our personal and professional lives."
Olivia Troye, who was a homeland security staffer for former Vice President Mike Pence, publicly walked away from the administration over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. She told NBC that the August 22 search of former National Security Advisor John Bolton's home triggered fears that the administration may carry out a similar search at her home, where she's caring for her elderly mother. Troye noted that she is currently in conversations with a foreign government about leaving the U.S.
"It's hard to figure out what the right thing is," Troye said. "And the other thing is, I haven't done anything wrong."
Click here to read NBC's full report in its entirety.