Quick Hit:

President Donald Trump has signed two new memorandums ordering the Department of Justice to investigate two high-profile officials from his first administration—Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs—over what Trump and his team describe as disloyal and potentially unlawful conduct during their time in government.

Key Details:

• Trump signed DOJ-directed memos against former DHS official Miles Taylor and former CISA director Chris Krebs.

• Taylor, who authored the infamous “Anonymous” op-ed in The New York Times, is accused of "egregious behavior" during Trump's first term.

• The memos also revoke both men’s security clearances and call for further scrutiny of their conduct while in office.

Diving Deeper:

President Trump on Wednesday took a firm step toward what many are calling a campaign of long-overdue accountability, directing the Department of Justice to investigate two individuals who served in his first administration—Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs—both of whom were highly critical of President Trump. 

Taylor, once a deputy chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, rose to notoriety in 2018 as the author behind an anonymous New York Times op-ed that described a “resistance” inside the Trump administration. Taylor later revealed himself and published a book under the same pseudonym. In response, Trump signed a memo revoking Taylor’s security clearance and urging DOJ to examine his conduct more deeply. Will Scharf, Trump’s White House staff secretary, described Taylor’s actions as "egregious behavior" that warranted legal review.

President Trump minced no words in his reaction to Taylor’s past conduct, telling reporters, “I had no idea who this guy was. He’s like a traitor.” He emphasized that this type of subversion is unsustainable for the office of the presidency and declared, “You can’t have that happen.”

The second memo targeted Chris Krebs, who served as the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and publicly rejected Trump’s concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election. Scharf stated that the new directive will not only revoke Krebs’ security clearance but will also initiate a DOJ investigation into “malign acts” Krebs allegedly engaged in while still leading CISA.

This latest move follows a pattern under Trump’s second term of stripping security clearances from high-level officials who have criticized him. Among those already targeted are Anthony Fauci, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and former national security adviser John Bolton. The president has also taken aim at members of the Biden administration and legal figures tied to past investigations into his presidency.

While critics in the legacy media are already labeling these actions as retaliatory, Trump’s supporters argue they are a necessary correction to years of unchecked bureaucratic disloyalty and sabotage. By using the DOJ to investigate potential breaches of trust and misuse of authority within the federal government, Trump is signaling that those who work against the administration from within will no longer do so without consequence.