Donald Trump has fired the head of a federal agency who confirmed that the presidential election was fair.
The outgoing US President sacked Christopher Krebs, the director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) over Twitter, claiming that his defence of the security of the election was ‘highly inaccurate’.
The move to axe Mr Krebs, who was appointed by Mr Trump, comes as various high-level officials seen as insufficiently loyal are removed by the President, who is refusing to recognise the victory of Joe Biden. His behaviour has alarmed experts, politicians and many in his own party, who admit any claims that the election was rigged are unfounded. Mr Trump fired defence secretary Mark Esper on November 9, part of a broader shake-up that put Trump loyalists in senior Defence positions.
Mr Krebs, a former Microsoft executive, ran CISA from its creation in the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 vote through to the election earlier this month.
He won praise from across the political spectrum as CISA co-ordinated federal state and local efforts to defend electoral systems from foreign or domestic interference.
In recent days, Mr Krebs has repeatedly pushed back against false claims that the election was tainted and rejected claims of voter fraud.
Earlier on Tuesday, he tweeted report citing 59 election security experts saying there is no credible evidence of computer fraud in the 2020 election outcome.
Mr Krebs replied to the sacking from his personal Twitter account, saying: ‘Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomorrow.’
He closed with the phrase ‘Protect 2020,’ which had been his agency’s slogan ahead of the election.
Reuters reported last week that Mr Krebs had told associates he expected to be fired.
But he was not given notice of Trump’s plan to fire him, according to a person familiar with the matter, and learned of the decision through Twitter.
Matthew Travis, Mr Krebs’ deputy and the number two at the agency, resigned on Tuesday night, while CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales is expected to take over on Wednesday.
Mr Trump said on Twitter that Mr Krebs had issued a ‘highly inaccurate’ statement that the election had been secure when that there were in fact ‘massive improprieties and fraud – including dead people voting, Poll Watchers not allowed into polling locations,’ and voting machine errors that flipped votes from Mr Trump to Mr Biden.
Dozens of election security experts on Monday released a letter saying claims of major hacks were unsubstantiated and absurd on their face.
Twitter slapped warning labels on Trump’s posts, noting: ‘This claim about election fraud is disputed.’
Trump has made various debunked allegations that the election was ‘rigged’ and has refused to concede defeat to President-elect Mr Biden, ahead of his inauguration in January.
His campaign team has filed a series of lawsuits in battleground states, although election officials in both parties have said they see no evidence of serious irregularities.
Officials with CISA and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, had no immediate comment.
A spokesman for President-elect Joe Biden said: ‘Chris Krebs should be commended for his service in protecting our elections, not fired for telling the truth.’
Senator Ben Sasse, who has been a Trump critic, was among the first Republicans to push back against the decision.
‘Chris Krebs did a really good job as state election officials all across the nation will tell you and he obviously should not be fired’, he said.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/18/trump-fires-top-official-who-told-him-election-wasnt-rigged-13612869/