Ex-Trump official who’s backing Biden claims White House trying to ‘dig up dirt’ on him

‘The administration, within hours of me speaking out about this, is already using taxpayer dollars for political purposes’

A former senior Trump administration official who endorsed Joe Biden and called the president “terrifying” has claimed the White House is now trying to “dig up dirt” on him, according to a report.

Miles Taylor, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief of staff under Kirstjen Nielsen, became one of the highest-ranking former administration officials to endorse Donald Trump's rival on Monday.

Following the endorsement, on Tuesday Mr Taylor claimed in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper that a White House liaison employee had been told to “dig up dirt” on him.

“I just got word within the past hour that a White House liaison employee at the department has been directed to go around to dig up dirt on me, Now, look, I'm fine with that. I can handle it,” Mr Taylor alleged to the broadcaster.

“But here's the point: the administration, within hours of me speaking out about this, is already using taxpayer dollars for political purposes at the department. That just goes to show you that they can't break out of this cycle,” he added.

The White House did not immediately reply to The Independent’s request for comment.

The accusations follow Mr Taylor’s appearance in a video for Republican Voters Against Trump and an op-ed in The Washington Post on Monday, where he launched scathing attacks on the president and endorsed Mr Biden.

“What we saw week in and week out, and for me, after two and a half years in that administration, was terrifying,” Mr Taylor, a longtime Republican, said in the video.

“We would go in to try to talk to him about a pressing national security issue – cyberattack, terrorism threat – he wasn’t interested in those things. To him, they weren’t priorities.”

Mr Taylor claimed that the president wanted to “restart” the practice of separating children from their families at the US-Mexico border following the termination of the widely-denounced strategy in 2018, among a number of allegations.

He added: “Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Mr Biden for president, and even though I am not a Democrat, even though I disagree on key issues, I’m confident that Mr Biden will protect the country and I’m confident that he won’t make the same mistakes as this president.”

Mr Trump hit back against the comments following the first night of the Democratic National Convention, calling Mr Taylor a “disgruntled employee” and insisting that he had never heard of him, despite his senior position and the existence of photos of them together.

“Many thousands of people work for our government,” the president wrote on Twitter.

“With that said, a former DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE named Miles Taylor, who I do not know (never heard of him), said he left & is on the open arms Fake News circuit. Said to be a real 'stiff'. They will take anyone against us!”

The former DHS official is among several high-profile former administration officials who have publicly denounced the president.

Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as White House communications director, has endorsed the Democratic nominee.

Former national security chief John Bolton, has said he will not be voting for Mr Trump or Mr Biden.