Over 100 Republicans, including former officials, threaten to split from
the G.O.P.
Miles Taylor, right, in 2019 on Capitol Hill, when he was chief of staff
at the Department of Homeland Security, with Kirstjen Nielsen, who was
homeland security secretary at the time.
Miles Taylor, right, in 2019 on Capitol Hill, when he was chief of staff
at the Department of Homeland Security, with Kirstjen Nielsen, who was
homeland security secretary at the time.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York
Times
Zach Montague

By Zach Montague

Published May 11, 2021Updated Nov. 7, 2021

More than 100 Republicans, including some former elected officials, are
preparing to release a letter this week threatening to form a third party
if the Republican Party does not make certain changes, according to an
organizer of the effort.

The statement is expected to take aim at former President Donald J.
Trump�s stranglehold on Republicans, which signatories to the document
have deemed unconscionable.

�When in our democratic republic, forces of conspiracy, division, and
despotism arise, it is the patriotic duty of citizens to act collectively
in defense of liberty and justice,� reads the preamble to the full
statement, which is expected to be released on Thursday.

The effort comes as House Republican leaders are expected on Wednesday to
oust Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from their ranks because of her
outspoken criticism of Mr. Trump�s election lies.

�This is a first step,� said Miles Taylor, an organizer of the effort and
a former Trump-era Department of Homeland Security official who
anonymously wrote a book condemning the Trump administration. In October,
Mr. Taylor acknowledged he was the author of both the book and a 2018 New
York Times Op-Ed article.

�This is us saying that a group of more than 100 prominent Republicans
think that the situation has gotten so dire with the Republican Party that
it is now time to seriously consider whether an alternative might be the
only option,� he said.

The list of people signing the statement includes former officials at both
the state and national level who once were governors, members of Congress,
ambassadors, cabinet secretaries, state legislators and Republican Party
chairmen, Mr. Taylor said.

Mr. Taylor declined to name the signers. Reuters reported earlier that the
former governors Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and Christine Todd Whitman of
New Jersey will sign it, as will former Transportation Secretary Mary E.
Peters and former Representatives Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Barbara
Comstock of Virginia, Reid Ribble of Wisconsin and Mickey Edwards of
Oklahoma.

Mr. Taylor declined on Tuesday to reveal the specific changes that the
coalition was planning to demand of the Republican Party in its statement.
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�I�m still a Republican, but I�m hanging on by the skin of my teeth
because how quickly the party has divorced itself from truth and reason,�
Mr. Taylor said. �I�m one of those in the group that feels very strongly
that if we can�t get the G.O.P. back to a rational party that supports
free minds, free markets, and free people, I�m out and a lot of people are
coming with me.�