Latest Moves

June 2019: Taylor Left Trump Administration. [LinkedIn – Miles Taylor, accessed 11/13/20]

October 2020: Taylor Unmasked Himself As “Anonymous” Who Claimed To Be Part Of Resistance Within The Trump Administration. “Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, was the anonymous author of The New York Times Op-Ed article in 2018 whose description of President Trump as “impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective” roiled Washington and set off a hunt for his identity, Mr. Taylor confirmed Wednesday. Mr. Taylor was also the anonymous author of “A Warning,” a book he wrote the following year that described the president as an “undisciplined” and “amoral” leader whose abuse of power threatened the foundations of American democracy. He acknowledged that he was the author of both the book and the opinion article in an interview and in a three-page statement he posted online.” [New York Times, 10/28/20]

August 2020: Taylor Lied On CNN When Asked If He Was “Anonymous.” ““I wear a mask for two things, Anderson: Halloween and pandemics. So, no,” says @MilesTaylorUSA, when asked by @AndersonCooper if he is the author of the op-ed book written by someone called Anonymous.” [Twitter – CNN Newsroom, 8/21/20]

CNN Added Miles Taylor As A Contributor In August 2020. [LinkedIn – Miles Taylor, accessed 11/13/20]

Headline: The Hill: “CNN’s Cuomo asks Miles Taylor why network should ‘keep you on the payroll’ after lying about op-ed.” [The Hill, 10/29/20]

CNN Published Op-Ed By Taylor As Recently As November 12, 2020. [CNN, 11/12/20]

2019: Google Hired Taylor As Head Of National Security Policy, Later Promoting Him To Head Of Advanced Technology And Security Strategy. “Google hired Mr. Taylor as its head of national security policy engagement in late 2019. He faced criticism from some of the company’s employees because of his role in the administration when Ms. Nielsen helped enable the separation of migrant children from their families at the border. Google’s leadership defended Mr. Taylor’s hiring and later promoted him to head of advanced technology and security strategy.” [New York Times, 10/28/20]

October 2020: Google Confirmed Taylor Was Still An Employee, Currently On Unpaid Leave. “On Wednesday, a Google spokesperson confirmed that Taylor is still an employee but on unpaid leave. The spokesperson said the company was previously unaware of his role as the unnamed Times op-ed writer and that it only found out on Wednesday via media reports.” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/20]

November 2020: Google Confirmed Taylor Was No Longer An Employee. “”We can confirm that Miles is no longer an employee of Google,” a company spokesperson told BuzzFeed News in a statement. “He’s been on personal leave since August, and has decided to pursue his other interests outside the company.”” [Buzzfeed News, 11/5/20]

Taylor Is Represented By United Talent Agency In Los Angeles. “Earlier in the day, Taylor did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ multiple requests for comment. When reached by a reporter via email, the former DHS official directed them instead to contact his agents with United Talent Agency, a Los Angeles–based firm that recently signed Paris Hilton.” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/20]

Taylor’s “Anonymous” Book Was Published By Twelve Books Who Praised His “Political Courage.” “The book’s publisher, Sean Desmond of Twelve Books, said in a statement that the company was proud of the book, which he said “every day seems more and more prescient.” He added, “Miles Taylor has been a great publishing partner and we support him and the true act of political courage it took to tell his story.”” [New York Times, 10/28/20]

May 2020: Taylor Added As Senior Fellow At Auburn’s McCrary Institute For Cyber And Critical Infrastructure Security. [LinkedIn – Miles Taylor, accessed 11/13/20]

Taylor Is A Term Member On Council On Foreign Relations. [McCrary Institute – Miles Taylor, accessed 11/13/20]

Recent News

October 2020: Taylor Deleted Tweet Discussing Family Separation Where He Argued “It’s Horrible. But…” “This is the way Miles Taylor talked about family separation LAST WEEK (“It’s horrible. But…”) when news broke parents of 545 separated kids still cannot be located. He later deleted the tweet.” [Twitter – Jacob Soboroff, 10/28/20]

Headline: Buzzfeed News: “The “Anonymous” Figure Who Claimed To Be Resisting Trump Actually Defended His Controversial Immigration Policies.” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/20]

Administration Official: “On Multiple Occasions, I Sat Within Inches Of Miles Taylor During Meetings Solely Focused On ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy, And He Was Neither Silent Nor Vocally Opposed To The Weighty Decisions Before Us.” “Family separation and the administration’s push to force asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico as they await the fate of their immigration cases were among the policies enacted while Taylor was a top DHS official — policies he later criticized on cable news shows. “On multiple occasions, I sat within inches of Miles Taylor during meetings solely focused on ‘zero tolerance’ policy, and he was neither silent nor vocally opposed to the weighty decisions before us,” one current Trump administration official told BuzzFeed News on the condition of anonymity. A former administration official said Taylor was part of a group close to Nielsen, a tight inner circle that included the likes of Chad Wolf, the current acting head of DHS and also a former chief of staff to Nielsen.” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/20]

Taylor Misled In August 2020 Interview, Claiming He Had No Role In Family Separation Policy. “Yet, while he was distancing himself from immigration policies adopted by DHS during his tenure, Taylor was not being honest about his role. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Aug. 18 on Good Morning America, Taylor claimed he had no role in the policy to separate immigrant families at the border, which then–attorney general Jeff Sessions said was a deterrent against illegal immigration. “That was actually a policy that was developed before I took on my role as deputy chief of staff in the Department [of Homeland Security] before becoming chief of staff,” Taylor told Stephanopoulos. “Attorney General Sessions announced that a few days before I stepped into that role.”” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/20]

Taylor Argued Kirstjen Nielsen Was Unfairly Criticized For Her Role In Carrying Out Family Separation Policy. “The former senior official said he believes Nielsen was unfairly criticized for her role in the family separations crisis and recalled a 2018 meeting with Trump at the White House at which she was the only one who voted against the policy. Taylor said he regrets not denouncing all of this sooner, although he thinks Trump would have “buried the story and American voters would have moved on.”” [NBC News, 8/27/20]

Headline: Buzzfeed News: “A Google Staffer Helped Sell Trump’s Family Separation Policy, Despite The Company Denials.” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/19]

Taylor Prepped Nielsen On Immigration Enforcement Issues Throughout Implementation Of Family Separation Policy, Including Preparing A “Protecting Children Narrative.” “In fact, Miles Taylor, who served as deputy chief of staff and then chief of staff to former Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, was involved in high-level discussions about immigration enforcement, helping to shape the department’s narratives and talking points as one of Nielsen’s trusted lieutenants. As Nielsen’s deputy chief of staff, Taylor was included on some of the DHS secretary’s emails and privy to her events schedule, often prepping his boss with reports and talking points ahead of public appearances between April and June 2018, when the family separation policy was in effect. In one email obtained by BuzzFeed News, Taylor assisted Nielsen in preparing what he described as the “Protecting Children Narrative” — the department’s spin on a policy that horrified Americans when images of abandoned, caged migrant children in squalid camps emerged. Other emails from Nielsen’s events planner show that he had been scheduled to participate in at least two weekly calls to “discuss Border Security and Immigration Enforcement” in June 2018.” [Buzzfeed News, 10/28/19]