LESTER HOLT: Now to our NBC News exclusive as a senior official in the first Trump Administration, Miles Taylor, published an anonymous op-ed criticizing the president. Now President Trump has signed a memo ordering a probe into Taylor. Laura Jarrett spoke with him.
MILES TAYLOR: People need to know how real it is to be blacklisted by the president.
LAURA JARRETT: For a brief moment, Miles Taylor was anonymous.
TAYLOR: I got into government to serve my country…
JARRETT: Now, he's anything but. The former Homeland Security official who once detailed his observations inside the first Trump Administration in an anonymous op-ed now accused of leaking classified information and treason in a presidential memorandum.
JARRETT: Did you ever knowingly disseminate classified information?
TAYLOR: I know I've never broken the law. I know that I've assiduously upheld my national security obligations. You can’t threaten Americans to not exercise their First Amendment rights because they're fearful the President of the United States will prosecute them.
JARRETT: The 38-year-old says he's now receiving a barrage of threats.
TAYLOR: My wife has to read online about people saying that they'll put me in front of a firing squad. We were told by security experts to go update our last will and testament.
JARRETT: The president denies he's seeking revenge by directing investigations of his critics.
DONALD TRUMP: No, I just look at people, and I'm not directing anybody.
JARRETT: Do you believe that you are being investigated by the federal government?
TAYLOR: I have seen indications that they are out there rummaging through my past. (VIDEO SWIPE) What I worry about is that they will try to use this tactic, this bludgeon of the bully pulpit of the presidency to go shut people up.
JARRETT: Taylor's hired Abbe Lowell, who has represented everyone from Hunter by Biden to President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
ABBE LOWELL: For the head of the Executive Branch to order, literally order a criminal investigation, is unprecedented.
JARRETT: When asked if a criminal investigation is underway, DoJ and Homeland Security declined to comment, but Lowell said he isn't waiting for an indictment.
LOWELL: I'm asking all those judges, who are the guardrails of protecting the rights of citizens, to be on the lookout for requests that come to get information against Miles or others.
JARRETT: Is what's happening now something that you know is unique to Miles Taylor?
LOWELL: I don’t think it stops with Miles, but I think Miles is a good case of the system works.
JARRETT: Laura Jarrett, NBC News.
