Tag Archives: Miles Taylor

MSNBC: Trump admin regulators launch investigation into Media Matters, adding to pattern

Posted on by
Reply

If it seems as if there have been a lot of new federal investigations into Democrats and their allies lately, it’s not your imagination.

But it’s important to remember that many of the White House’s political antagonists are, in fact, facing the kind of investigations that Trump has in mind. The New York Times reported:

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday opened an investigation into Media Matters, a liberal advocacy organization that has published research on hateful and antisemitic content on X, according to two people familiar with the inquiry. The regulator said in a letter sent to the organization that it was investigating the group, which is aligned with Democrats, over whether it illegally colluded with advertisers, according to the people.

…

The public has learned in recent weeks that the administration — led by a president whose second-term “revenge tour” has been unsubtle — is also investigating and/or prosecuting a variety of Democratic officials and candidates, including Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

This dovetails with the president directing the Justice Department to go after Christopher Krebs, who led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; which came on the heels of Trump pressing the Department of Homeland Security to investigate Miles Taylor, a former high-ranking DHS official. The president did this not because there’s evidence of Krebs or Taylor having done anything wrong, but because they defied him several years ago. They went on his enemies list, and now he’s exacting revenge.

Around the same time, Trump also directed the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s most important fundraising platform.

And did I mention the investigation into former FBI director James Comey? Because that’s underway, too.

Trump and his team are also going after law firms, universities and news organizations they consider political foes of the White House.

What’s more, given Ed Martin’s new responsibilities at the Justice Department, this overtly and abusive partisan pattern is likely to intensify.

So Trump hates everybody?

Axios recently noted, “In the final days of the 2024 campaign, Axios identified a list of perceived adversaries who fit what Trump ominously described as ‘the enemies from within.’ As president, he has taken steps to retaliate against virtually all of them.” That was two months ago. The problem is vastly worse now, and there’s no reason to believe conditions will improve anytime soon.

Trump admin regulators launch investigation into Media Matters, adding to pattern
If it seems as if there have been a lot of new federal investigations into Democrats and their allies lately, it’s not your imagination.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-admin-regulators-launch-investigation-media-matters-adding-patte-rcna208780

MSNBC: I confronted Sec. Noem [Bimbo #2] because our democracy is threatened like never before

Posted on by
Reply

President Trump has demonstrated he’s willing to tell any lie to justify jailing anyone.

Last month, President Donald Trump shared an edited image of the knuckles of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with protected status wrongfully sent to a Salvadoran detention facility. The photo showed “MS13” apparently added above his knuckle tattoos, even though other photos of his hand did not have that text. Last week, I had a chance to ask Homeland Security Security Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem if she had investigated how an edited image came into the president’s hands. Not only did she refuse to answer, she barely acknowledged that the image was edited.

Politics is hyperbole. I know that voters have become inured to politicians saying, “The opposing party is the end of the country as we know it!” But what we are witnessing today is like nothing we have seen since the founding of this country, almost 250 years ago. Every warning light on democracy’s dashboard now flashes red.

Since taking the Oval Office, Trump has never been coy about his ambitions to rule as a dictator rather than serve as a president, accountable to the people who put him there. In just the past few months, he’s laid out the groundwork to jail innocent people and silence his political enemies, all under the guise of “law and order.” Perhaps in just a few months, Trump’s authoritarian ambitions will be realized. And it will be like how Hemingway described how one grows broke: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”Just last week, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and one of his longest-serving enablers, said the White House was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus for immigrants.

Let’s be clear: Suspending the constitutional right to challenge unlawful detention is not some academic exercise or abstract policy debate, as many on the right may claim. Miller is deadly serious. There is no ambiguity. Equally explicit is the United States Constitution: Only Congress can suspend habeas corpus, and only in cases of actual rebellion or invasion.

Suspending habeas corpus is the move of dictators and despots.

Click the link below to read the whole article:

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/eric-swalwell-kristi-noem-kilmar-abrego-garcia-rcna207275

New York Times: If We Can’t Prosecute Trump’s Foes, We’ll ‘Shame’ Them, Justice Dept. Official Says

Posted on by
Reply

Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

President Trump has kept up a steady bombardment of suggestions, requests and demands to arrest, investigate or prosecute targets of his choosing — the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, various Democrats, officials who refuted his election lies, Beyoncé, the Boss.

But Mr. Trump’s directives have so far hit a stubborn snag. Few, if any, of those singled out have done anything to invite conventional prosecutorial scrutiny, much less committed prosecutable crimes to warrant an indictment under federal law.

But a Trump loyalist, given new, vague and possibly vast power, has found a workaround.

In recent days, Ed Martin, the incoming leader of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” group, made a candid if unsurprising admission: He plans to use his authority to expose and discredit those he believes to be guilty, even if he cannot find sufficient evidence to prosecute them — weaponizing an institution he has been hired to de-weaponize, in the view of critics.

In other words, if they can’t prosecute their target, they’ll engage in character assassination.

So much for a professional Department of Justice!

https://archive.is/SLN1j#selection-707.0-730.0

Alternet: More than revenge: Here’s why Trump is really targeting his own former officials | Opinion

Posted on by
Reply

During President Donald Trump’s first three months in office, his administration has targeted dozens of former officials who criticized him or opposed his agenda.

In April 2025, Trump directed the Department of Justice to investigate two men who served in his first administration, Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs, because they spoke out against his policies and corrected his false claims about the 2020 election that he lost.

Further, Trump revoked the security clearances for advisers and retired generals who publicly criticized him during the 2024 election campaign.

On their face, such moves appear to be a coordinated campaign of personal retribution. But as political science scholars who study the origins of elected strongmen, we believe Trump’s use of the Justice Department to attack former officials who stood up to him isn’t just about revenge. It also deters current officials from defying Trump.

…

But to carry out a power grab, incumbent leaders also need allies who will stay silent or, better yet, endorse their attempts to consolidate control.

…

Recall that Trump only left office in January 2021 because key Republican officials defied his attempts to overturn an election he lost.

…

In authoritarian contexts, loyalty is not an intrinsic quality. Authoritarian leaders do not necessarily select those with whom they have long work experience that leads to mutual trust.

…

Instead, the challenge for authoritarian leaders is finding people to do their bidding. And the best people for this job are those who never would have earned their position in politics without the leader’s influence.

Unqualified appointees who can’t ascend to political power based on their merits have little choice but to stick with the leader. These people appear loyal, but only because their careers are tied to the leader staying in power.

www.alternet.org
More than revenge: Here’s why Trump is really targeting his own former officials | Opinion

https://www.alternet.org/trump-revenge-2672110754

MSNBC: I confronted Sec. Noem [Bimbo #2] because our democracy is threatened like never before

Posted on by
Reply

Last month, President Donald Trump shared an edited image of the knuckles of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident with protected status wrongfully sent to a Salvadoran detention facility. The photo showed “MS13” apparently added above his knuckle tattoos, even though other photos of his hand did not have that text. Last week, I had a chance to ask Homeland Security Security Kristi Noem [Bimbo #2] if she had investigated how an edited image came into the president’s hands. Not only did she refuse to answer, she barely acknowledged that the image was edited.

…

The groundwork for jailing the innocent is being laid right now — not behind closed doors, but out in the open.

First, Trump appointed Kash Patel as FBI director, an unqualified podcaster who published a book listing names of Trump’s enemies who should be imprisoned. I didn’t make the top 60; rather, I was mentioned in the foreword to Patel’s list as a legislator who should be targeted.

Next, in Trump’s first hours as president, rather than issuing executive orders that would lower consumer costs, he pardoned or commuted the sentence of every Jan. 6 criminal. A man willing to free hundreds of political allies seems more than willing to jail his political enemies.

Accordingly, last month, Trump directed his attorney general to investigate Christopher Krebs, former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security. Krebs made the mistake of declaring the 2020 election the most secure in history. Taylor had the courage to organize other concerned Trump national security officials to bring to light Trump’s constitutional crimes.

And Trump demonstrated he’s willing to tell any lie to justify jailing anyone — which brings us back to Abrego Garcia. In April, the Trump administration admitted in court that it had mistakenly sent Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

Every court that’s heard Abrego Garcia’s appeal — including the Supreme Court — has ordered Trump to facilitate his return to the United States. When asked about the case, Trump boasted he “could” return Abrego Garcia, but he “won’t.” To justify the man’s imprisonment, Trump has pointed to the altered image.

Opinion | I confronted Sec. Noem because our democracy is threatened like never before
President Trump has demonstrated he’s willing to tell any lie to justify jailing anyone.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/eric-swalwell-kristi-noem-kilmar-abrego-garcia-rcna207275

Roll Call: Pardons for friends, retribution for foes

Posted on by
Reply

Critics say Trump has Used the Powers of the President in Ways That Raise Alarms

President Donald Trump spent much of the last four years decrying Justice Department prosecutions against him and his supporters, and one of his first executive orders in January said it sought to end the “weaponization of prosecutorial power to upend the democratic process.”

But since then, Trump has used the power of his office for actions that critics and experts say inject politics into federal investigations and prosecutions, such as memorandums last month initiating government investigations into actions of two former officials who have been critical of him.

Trump wiped away the criminal cases of his supporters for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and has given pardons for supporters and erstwhile allies. The Justice Department since January has dropped a high-profile criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, and made personnel moves that target employees involved in the investigations of Trump and the criminal probes of rioters.

Pardons for friends, retribution for foes – Roll Call
President Donald Trump has used the power of his office in ways critics and experts say inject politics into the criminal justice system.

https://rollcall.com/2025/05/07/pardons-for-friends-retribution-for-foes

NBC News: Former aide who refuted Trump’s false 2020 election claims is under federal investigation

Posted on by
Reply

A former senior cybersecurity official who refuted President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was “rigged” is under federal investigation, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.

Chris Krebs is facing an unspecified government investigation, the DHS spokesperson said. As a result, Krebs was expelled from a U.S. customs program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved American travelers at airports, known as Global Entry.

Bully boy Trump exacts his revenge!

Former aide who refuted Trump’s false 2020 election claims is under federal investigation
A former senior cybersecurity official who refuted President Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was “rigged” is under federal investigation, a DHS spokesperson said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/former-aide-who-refuted-trump-s-false-2020-election-claims-is-under-federal-investigation/ar-AA1E4P83

CNN: Trump targets two first-term critics, a law firm and the American Bar Association

Posted on by
Reply

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would use the power of the Justice Department to go after two officials who were highly critical of him during his first term in office, including one whose anonymously written New York Times op-ed claiming he was part of the “resistance” to Trump’s presidency captivated the nation for years.

The announcement by Trump that he was targeting former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor, who penned the op-ed, and former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs, whose rejection of Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election led to his ousting, comes as the president continues to seek retribution on his perceived enemies in ways big and small.

Executive orders signed by Trump on Wednesday strip Taylor and Krebs of any existing security clearance they may still hold since leaving office and orders the Justice Department to probe both former officials.

The president did not specify any alleged wrongdoing by the men that necessitated investigations by the department. But, speaking in the White House, Trump made clear he thinks he knows what the results should be.

“I think what he did, and he wrote a book, ‘Anonymous,’ said all sorts of lies, bad things– and I think it’s, I think it’s like a traitor, like, it’s like spying,” Trump said of Taylor. “I think it’s a very important case, and I think he’s guilty of treason, if you want to know the truth, but we’ll find out.”

King Donald is an illiterate bumpkin who apparently doesn’t even understand how treason is defined in the U.S. Constitution.

Trump targets two first term critics, a law firm and the American Bar Association | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would use the power of the Justice Department to go after two officials who were highly critical of him during his first term in office, including one whose anonymously written New York Times op-ed claiming he was part of the “resistance” to Trump’s presidency captivated the nation for years.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/politics/trump-critics-executive-orders-taylor-krebs/index.html

CNN: Trump’s retribution sends a chilling message to dissenters

Posted on by
Reply

Donald Trump’s White House has a threatening message for anyone who might even be perceived to disagree with the president: Don’t. Or else.

Even though he has promised to end what he viewed as “weaponization” of the Department of Justice, Trump is treating people who disagree with him more like the “enemy from within” he talked about during the presidential campaign.

The president took the unusual step this week of issuing official proclamations ordering the federal investigations of people who worked in his first administration.

He’s demanding free work from law firms who represented his perceived enemies, threatening to impeach judges, deporting campus protesters and so much more.

The underlying message, for anyone who hasn’t put all these things together, is that dissent will not be tolerated under Trump 2.0.

Analysis: Trump’s retribution sends a chilling message to dissenters | CNN Politics
Donald Trump’s White House has a threatening message for anyone who might even be perceived to disagree with the president: Don’t. Or else.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/12/politics/trump-krebs-khalil-taylor-crackdown-dissent-what-matters/index.html

Mediaite: Trump Orders DOJ To Investigate Prominent Critic in Shocking Oval Office Remarks: ‘I Think He’s Guilty of Treason’

Posted on by
Reply

Using the powers of government for personal political revenge:

President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to investigate former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor over his “anonymous” essay and book hammering Trump during his first term. Trump went so far as to accuse Taylor of committing treason, a capital offense, for writing about what he saw during Trump’s first term.

Trump also ordered the DOJ to investigate Chris Krebs, Trump’s election security director during his first term. Trump wildly suggested Krebs was part of an effort to steal the 2020 election as Krebs repeatedly said there was no evidence of fraud that he could find.

Trump Orders DOJ To Investigate Prominent Critic in Shocking Oval Office Remarks: ‘I Think He’s Guilty of Treason’