Why I'm calling for an investigation into the Trump Administration
"Revenge Orders" have no place in America.
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT
This morning, I took the formal step in what will be a long fight: I asked the government’s watchdogs to investigate how Donald Trump is using the presidency to punish dissent — starting with me. (full legal request at the bottom)
WHAT HAPPENED
I served as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Donald Trump – and warned the country about what I saw. Specifically, I sounded the alarm about Trump’s anti-constitutional inclinations and desire to use the presidency for revenge if he won reelection, first as “Anonymous,” then under my own name. His defenders dismissed my warnings and said my predictions “wouldn’t really happen.” Then they did.
Back in office, he’s wielding his powers for revenge. He’s gone after law firms. He’s attacked universities. He’s threatened media organizations. He’s used the government to assail a wide range of institutions and perceived foes. In short, he’s proven my point in extraordinary, unprecedented fashion.
Now the President is going after individuals – myself included. Trump signed an Executive Order on April 9 directing law enforcement agencies to investigate me, as well as my former colleague Chris Krebs. Not for any identified crime. But in retaliation for warning about his abuses of power. Legal scholars say it’s the first time in U.S. history a president has directed federal investigations into his critics – by name – for protected speech. He suspended my security clearances, labeled me a national security threat, and told reporters I was probably guilty of “treason,” a crime that is penalized by the death penalty.
WHAT IT MEANS
The personal toll is real. Because of the Executive Order, me and my family have been harassed, doxxed, and threatened with execution. I’ve been forced to step down from my job, and my wife (a stay-at-home mother) had to go back to work, while we figure out how to cover expenses and keep our home in what we expect will be a costly legal fight. Meanwhile, friends and colleagues have been targeted merely for being connected to me.
The directive has wider consequences. The Attorney General used Trump’s order as justification to roll back long-standing Department of Justice (DOJ) protections that prevent the federal government from surveilling journalists. Those rules were put in place after past abuses, and they’re being undone right now, apparently in part to make it easier to go after the media and whistleblowers. But it goes further than that…
The President is effectively criminalizing free speech. The message is clear: speak out, report truth, or even associate with a critic and you could face federal investigation. This should be a wake-up call to anyone who believes in the rule of law. If a president can wield the full force of the government to pursue private citizens for First Amendment protected speech, then we are living under rule by threat.
WHAT’S NEXT
Today I’m calling on federal watchdogs to investigate the Trump Administration. My lawyers have filed a formal complaint (included below) to the Inspectors General of DHS and DOJ. The complaint requests a review into whether Trump’s Executive Order — and the actions taken to prepare for and implement it by his officials — violate the law, Constitutional rights, and any other safeguards meant to protect American citizens against arbitrary persecution.
This is not a partisan request. It’s a constitutional one. You don’t have to agree with me about Donald Trump and the risks he poses to the country. This is about whether we are comfortable with presidents ordering revenge investigations with the stroke of a pen. My fellow conservatives should consider this deeply: what precedent does this set for the day Republicans are no longer in the White House? Will you accept a Democratic president signing arbitrary orders for revenge investigations?
Telling the truth is not treason. Donald Trump believes personal criticism is subversion. But I’ve long taken a different view — the one held by President Teddy Roosevelt, who said: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President… is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public… it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.”
A FINAL NOTE
I don’t want to be writing these words. My wife and I stepped away from public life – to raise our daughter and put the pieces back together from the difficult experience of blowing the whistle. We don’t want this fight. But we fear that if we say and do nothing, it legitimizes Trump’s effort to silence critics and makes it worse for anyone who comes after us. That is why we’ve made the decision not to cower.
This is a space where truth & reason cannot be silenced. I’ll be posting messages here on Substack to make a record of what’s happening. Not just to me, but to others. I’ll be writing candidly about the threats facing America from the outside and from within. And I’ll be working to raise a legal defense fund for our family and others who face retaliation for their public service.
Please share this message. If “revenge orders” become the new normal, we won’t be a democracy anymore. We’ll be something else. And I’m not ready to surrender that future without a fight.
