Miles Taylor Biden, calling his experience in the administration “terrifying.”

 Miles Taylor Biden, calling his experience in the administration “terrifying.”.

Miles Taylor is the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in President Donald Trump‘s administration, who on Monday endorsed Joe Biden for president, calling his experience in the administration “terrifying.”

In a Washington Post op-ed, Taylor said that the United States is significantly less safe under Trump’s presidency, and that Trump governs “whim, political calculation and self-interest.”

Taylor is currently on leave from a cybersecurity position at Google, and he served as chief of staff to former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversaw the country’s controversial Muslim travel ban and family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexican border.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Taylor Said Monday That Trump Was Obsessed With the Border Wall & Made Immigration Policy Choices to Benefit Himself Politically

In his Monday op-ed, Taylor recalled his time working in the Department of Homeland Security, under then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, between 2017 and 2019. Trump, he alleged, tried to turn the country’s largest law enforcement agency into a “tool used for his political benefit.”

In a March 28, 2019, oval office meeting, Trump instructed DHS to close the California-Mexico border or to “dump” undocumented immigrants into Democratically run cities and states to cause problems for their authorities, according to Taylor. He also described a moment during February 2019 negotiations with Congress to avoid a government shutdown when Trump “demanded” a phone briefing on the color of his desired border wall.

Taylor claimed there were “episodes” like that almost every week.

Also, after the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting anyone crossing the border illegally and separating children from their families at the border was stopped, Trump wouldn’t let it go, according to Taylor, even trying for a more targeted policy of specifically pulling apart families as a deterrent.

Nielsen refused to go along with Trump’s directives, Taylor said.

2. According to Taylor, Trump Cared Little About Cybersecurity or Domestic Terrorism & Wasted DHS Officials’ Time With Politically Motivated Requests

Taylor alleged that Trump did not take cybersecurity, domestic terrorism or foreign interference in U.S. politics seriously, instead spending much time making demands of DHS to implement policies that could help his re-election — including trying to get sharper spikes atop his border wall.

Taylor minced no words in describing what working at DHS was like under Trump, in his opinion:

Top DHS officials were regularly diverted from dealing with genuine security threats by the chore of responding to these inappropriate and often absurd executive requests, at all hours of the day and night. One morning it might be a demand to shut off congressionally appropriated funds to a foreign ally that had angered him, and that evening it might be a request to sharpen the spikes atop the border wall so they’d be more damaging to human flesh (“How much would that cost us?”). Meanwhile, Trump showed vanishingly little interest in subjects of vital national security interest, including cybersecurity, domestic terrorism and malicious foreign interference in U.S. affairs.

Trump officials reduced funding and eliminated key cybersecurity roles in 2017, Cyber Scoop reported.

3. Taylor Characterized the Trump Administration’s Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic as its Biggest Failure

Taylor said that the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, under which around 170,000 people have died in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was the “ultimate example” of poor leadership.

He claimed that DHS had planned for years how to manage such a pandemic, but the plans went to waste:

The president’s bungled response to the coronavirus pandemic is the ultimate example. In his cavalier disregard for the seriousness of the threat, Trump failed to make effective use of the federal crisis response system painstakingly built after 9/11. Years of DHS planning for a pandemic threat have been largely wasted. Meanwhile, more than 165,000 Americans have died.

4. Taylor Also Released a Republican Voters Against Trump Video on Monday

Also on Monday, Taylor released a video under the group Republican voters against Trump, in which he levied even more charges against Trump.

Taylor said that what he and other DHS officials saw during briefings with Trump was “terrifying,” and that Trump tried to “exploit” DHS for his own political purposes. During the California wildfires, Taylor said, Trump tried to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut off individual assistance to the state because he didn’t have political support there.

He also warned that people still inside the administration have warned him, “Just wait until the second term,” when Trump will feel he has more leeway to do what he wants with federal agencies.

“Given what I’ve experienced, I have to support Joe Biden for president,” Taylor said, adding that he is not a Democrat and disagrees with Biden on many issues. “I’m confident Joe Biden will protect the country and that he won’t make the same mistakes as this president.”

5. Taylor Is the Latest of Several Former Administration Officials Who Have Spoken Out Against Trump & His Policies

Taylor is far from the first former Trump administration official to speak out on what they experienced during their tenure and implore voters to reject Trump.

He joins former White House Communications Director Omarosa Manigault Newman, former Chief of Staff John Kelly and former Defense Secretary James Mattis in leaving the administration, then issuing scathing statements against Trump’s leadership.

Most recently, former National Security Adviser John Bolton drew Trump’s ire after leaving the administration and penning a book highly critical of the president. Bolton, in the book, alleged that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine unless the government conducted an investigation into Biden, his political opponent — the very allegation that resulted in Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Heavy reached out to the White House for comment on Taylor’s allegations, but had not heard back as of Monday afternoon.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UK debt 2 trillion, UK government spending on virus measures pushes

Image
UK debt 2 trillion, UK government spending on virus measures pushes. UK government debt has risen above £2 trillion for the first time amid heavy spending to support the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Spending on measures such as the furlough scheme means the debt figure now equals the value of everything the UK produces in a year. Total debt hit £2.004tn in July, £227.6bn more than last year,  said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Economists warned the situation would worsen before improving. Where do governments borrow money? It is the first time debt has been above 100% of gross domestic product (GDP) since the 1960-61 financial year, the ONS said. The July borrowing figure - the difference between spending and tax income - was £26.7bn, down from a revised £29.5bn in June. It was the fourth highest borrowing in any month since records began in 1993. The three higher figures were the previous three months. Those are big figures. What do they mean? Ruth Gregory, s...
Read more

Roger Stone appeal drop of his conviction (Details)

 Roger Stone appeal drop of his conviction (Details). Roger Stone, an admitted dirty trickster and longtime associate of President Trump, has dropped the appeal of his conviction for lying to Congress and witness tampering during his work on the 2016 Trump campaign. Stone gave little reason for his concession in a sworn statement filed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday night, but on his website said that “my attorneys have convinced me that the odds of victory were slim.” “It is time for me to move on with my life with my family, friends, and supporters,” Stone said. “I regret not going forward with the appeal to fully expose all that happened, with the hope that by doing so, I could help prevent it from happening to anyone else ever again; but I had to decide based on what is best for me and my family.” Trump commuted his sentence last month. Stone was convicted in a jury trial last November on seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction of Congress and witness ...
Read more

Porsche emissions data, Porsche Investigating Possible Manipulation

 Porsche emissions data, Porsche Investigating Possible Manipulation. Over the weekend, Porsche announced that it has launched an internal investigation into the possible manipulation of its engines to improve emissions test data, German newspaper  Bild am Sonntag   reported . The paper said that Porsche has contacted both German and U.S. authorities about the investigation. As of this morning, Germany’s federal automotive agency, KBA,  announced  that it will also be investigating Porsche over the issue. A Porsche spokesperson said in a statement that there is "no evidence" that any models currently in production are affected, and that those under scrutiny were developed years ago.  Bild  reported that engines developed between 2008 and 2013, including those in the Panamera and 911, were the focus of the investigation but did not cite the source of that information. The Porsche spokesperson added: "These topics mainly relate to specific hardware ...
Read more