Trump Fires Cybersecurity Director For Saying The Election Was Secure

November 18, 2020, 7:31 am

President Trump fired the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency via Twitter on Tuesday after he refused to back up the president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the November election.

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While Trump has spent the last two weeks railing against everything from voting machines to mail-in ballots to poll workers to the media — all against him, all trying to “steal” the election from him — his team has been able to find no evidence of the widespread fraud he claims happened, and that would be necessary to prove in order for him to overturn the results. Still, most of his administration and far too many high profile Republicans have been indulging his temper tantrum, desperate to find some way to stay in power.

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Chris Krebs, the head of CISA, was one of the few who stood up and debunked Trump’s baseless claims. He repeatedly shared information on Twitter intended to calm any concerns about election security, and gently pushed back on a number of rumors amplified by Trump himself intended to make people believe the election was vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

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ICYMI: On allegations that election systems were manipulated, 59 election security experts all agree, “in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.” #Protect2020 https://t.co/Oj6NciYruD

— Chris Krebs #Protect2020 (@CISAKrebs) November 17, 2020

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It was obvious that Krebs had a vested interest in not only restoring people’s faith in our democratic process, but also helping voters understand how the process works so that they aren’t swept away by conspiracy theories.

Your daily https://t.co/uXYOisiVPj reminder! We posted a new entry y’day on why undervotes happen (& aren’t unusual). More content in the pipeline!

And don’t forget: (1)Hammer/Scorecard is still nonsense, &(2) DHS IS NOT carrying out a fraud sting op using watermarked ballots. pic.twitter.com/pNALfql3wO

— Chris Krebs #Protect2020 (@CISAKrebs) November 10, 2020

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But any perceived disloyalty to Trump is enough to get someone fired, and Krebs reportedly saw the end coming as soon as he made the choice to prioritize his job and his country over one man.

“The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud — including dead people voting, Poll Watchers not allowed into polling locations, ‘glitches’ in the voting machines with changed votes from Trump to Biden, late voting, and many more,” Trump claimed without proof. “Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”

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…votes from Trump to Biden, late voting, and many more. Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020

Krebs’ firing makes it clear what others may be up against if they refuse to indulge Trump’s little tantrum about losing the election, but it also goes to show why it’s so important that people in positions of power actually take a stand as the president makes such a brazen attempt to undermine democracy.

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Chris Krebs is a Trump appointee. There was no reason for Krebs to lie when he concluded the elections were secure and fair. @realDonaldTrump fired Krebs for telling the truth. @POTUS can keep firing people, but he can’t change the fact that he lost the presidential election. https://t.co/GA3x8d3UB4

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 18, 2020

Sen. Klobuchar: “Trump’s firing of Christopher Krebs is a gut punch to our democracy. Dir. Krebs has been praised by both Republicans and Democrats at the state and national level … We need more people like Dir. Krebs working in government, and it is wrong that he was fired.”

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 18, 2020

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Stewing in the WH, the lame duck president just fired a leading cybersecurity official in Chris Krebs who vouched for the security of US election. Trump still has more than two months before he has to go. Two more months to settle scores and potentially cause great damage.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 18, 2020

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If you wanna know why officials are hesitant to recognize obvious truths like Joe Biden won the election and Donald Trump didn’t, Chris Krebs is a prime example of how, in this White House, you can be fired for contradicting the president, even if he is wrong.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 18, 2020

Director Krebs worked diligently to safeguard our elections from interference and misinformation.

He protected our democracy. And spoke truth to power.

That’s why Trump retaliated and fired him.

It’s pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 18, 2020

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Only in America, only in Trump’s America, is a man fired for declaring electoral system to be safe and secure. And for having ensured that it was.

— Bryan Behar (@bryanbehar) November 18, 2020

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While Kreb never should have been fired for doing his job and doing it well, it would seem, at least, that he has no regrets over the choices he made.

“Honored to serve,” he wrote. “We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomorrow.”

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*First Published: November 18, 2020, 7:31 am