'Shut people up': Former Trump official fights back against 'insidious' revenge campaign

One official in President Donald Trump's first administration has lately found himself in the crosshairs of the current administration. But he's promising to fight back loudly against his former boss.

NBC News reported Monday that Miles Taylor — who worked in the Department of Homeland Security and been accused by Trump of "treasonous" behavior — is refusing to back down despite the administration targeting him. Taylor was the author of the widely read New York Times op-ed about the "resistance inside the Trump administration," initially published anonymously. In an April executive order, Trump called Taylor an "egregious leaker" and instructed federal agencies to revoke both his security clearance and those of people associated with him. Trump also issued a similar executive order targeting former Cybersecurity and and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Christopher Krebs.

Taylor told the network that his previous warnings that Trump would use the power of the executive branch to hound his personal enemies have been realized, and that he is now aiming to fight back in the courts and in the public square.

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"My concern was he would turn the government into a revenge machine, and that’s what’s happening," Taylor said. "I have seen indications that they are out there, rummaging through my past, talking to people as far back as high school, and trying to comb through my life."

Taylor denied any allegations of leaking classified information, and insisted that he was being targeted for harassment based on his criticism of the administration. He told NBC that it was critical for Americans to understand that they didn't need a "permission slip" in order to criticize the president.

“Of course, it never crossed our minds that we would try to go settle,” Taylor said. “And what I worry about is that they will try to use this tactic, this bludgeon of the bully pulpit of the presidency, to go shut people up by threatening them and getting them to settle with the White House, like they’ve gotten businesses to settle, like they’re trying to get universities to settle.”

“That is insidious, that is un-American," he added. "You can’t threaten Americans to not exercise their First Amendment rights because they’re fearful the president of the United States will prosecute them.”

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Click here to read NBC's full report.