Trump Fires Cybersecurity Chief Krebs Over Election Claims

Chris Krebs, a leading cybersecurity authority within the United States government, has been dismissed from his role.

Krebs held the position of director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) from its establishment in November 2018 until his removal on Tuesday. The current leadership of the agency is presently unknown. A CISA representative did not provide an immediate response for comment.

President Trump announced Krebs’ termination via Twitter late Tuesday, referencing a CISA statement released the previous week. That statement determined that there was “no evidence of any voting system deleting or losing votes, altering votes, or being compromised in any manner.” Trump, who has consistently asserted unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, characterized CISA’s statement as “highly inaccurate.”

Following this, Twitter flagged Trump’s tweet as containing a “disputed” assertion regarding election fraud.

The potential dismissal of Krebs was initially reported by Reuters last week.

Krebs was selected by President Trump to lead the newly formed cybersecurity agency in November 2018, shortly after the midterm elections concluded. Prior to this, he served as an undersecretary for CISA’s preceding organization, the National Protection and Programs Directorate, and also fulfilled cybersecurity policy functions at Microsoft.

Throughout his government service, Krebs emerged as a prominent advocate for election security, spearheading efforts in both 2018 and 2020. These years were largely free from significant cyberattacks, a result of proactive preparation for the cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns that impacted the 2016 presidential election.

Senator Mark Warner, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated in a tweet that Krebs was “one of the few people in this administration respected by everyone on both sides of the aisle.”

Krebs represents the most recent departure from CISA within the past year. Brian Harrell, responsible for infrastructure protection at the agency, resigned in August after less than one year of service, and Jeanette Manfra transitioned to a position at Google at the close of the previous year. Cyberscoop reported on Thursday that Bryan Ware, CISA’s assistant director for cybersecurity, also resigned to pursue opportunities in the private sector.