For former and current officials who have witnessed presidential behavior that makes them sure a second Trump term would be devastating for America, indiscretion pales as a vice compared to silence and complicity in harming your country.

Some of these officials probably never thought it was a good idea for Trump to be president in the first place. These silent sleepers presented themselves in Trump Tower during the transition as discreet technocrats, albeit with longtime ties to the conservative movement.

They should share specific examples of presidential behavior that underpin their beliefs. Taylor spoke of a president convinced he has “magical authorities” that supersede the rule of law, a man who wanted to withhold emergency aid to citizens living in California as political punishment, use the separation of families as a deterrent to those seeking refuge, and who will enter a second term more emboldened to use power for “shock and awe.”