Miles Taylor, a former deputy chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump administration who wrote an op-ed criticizing President Trump, said the president is creating a “modern blacklist.”

“I think he wants to create a modern blacklist and have that blacklist ruin people’s lives,” Taylor responded when asked what he believes Trump’s plan is during an interview on MSNBC’s “Deadline White House.”

“Because it’s a lot of effort to go through with trying to pursue and prosecute hundreds of your enemies,” he continued. “All you need to do is try to successfully do that to a couple, to send a message, and that’s what some of his officials have said.”

Taylor wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in 2018 and later a book under the pseudonym “Anonymous” about how some officials were working to thwart Trump’s impulses. In April, Trump signed a memorandum directing the Department of Justice to investigate Taylor, saying he was likely “guilty of treason.”

Taylor added that officials have said Trump put forward the orders to investigate him, as well as Chris Krebs, who was ousted from his post as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in 2020, “to send a message,” adding that “to a certain extent, it works.”

“I’m the sole income earner in my household. I had to leave my job,” Taylor said. “My wife, who’s stayed home with our daughter, had to return to work so that we can buy diapers, so we can buy formula, so we can pay the mortgage.

“We had to go launch a legal defense fund, because we don’t think we can pay for the legal bills for this type of thing.”

Taylor, during an interview with the Associated Press, said the investigation sets a “really, really, really scary precedent” because the president “can now sign an order investigating any private citizen he wants, any critic, any foe, anyone.”

“I didn’t commit any crime, and that’s what’s extraordinary about this. I can’t think of any case where someone knows they’re being investigated but has absolutely no idea what crime they allegedly committed. And it’s because I didn’t.” 

Taylor emphasized that there were also threats to his and his family’s security in the wake of Trump’s investigation, even adding that someone advised his wife and him to “go update your last will and testament to name a guardian for your daughter.”

Despite others advising him to “keep his head down” in the hopes that the situation will “blow over,” Taylor said, “We know this guy, we don’t think this will blow over.”

“I’m a guy from a small town in Indiana, and you don’t just watch something this wrong happen and not say something,” he added. “And we know that that means we’re going to have to take more punches if we’re out there. But this is just wrong.”

Taylor also noted his family’s feelings of isolation, noting that he has had close friends call to tell him that they need to keep their distance. However, Taylor emphasized that him speaking out is “not so that people play the violin for me,” but so he can show how easy it is for the president “to order a revenge investigation against an American.”

“Right now, this could be happening to anyone, and that’s why we’ve decided to step out.”