Trump Fires CISA Director Chris Krebs

Christopher Krebs was fired via tweet shortly after the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency called the 2020 election "the most secure in American history."

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

November 19, 2020

2 Min Read
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Christopher Krebs, director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has been fired "effective immediately," President Donald Trump wrote in a tweet on Nov. 17.

Krebs has led CISA since 2018. In his time at the agency, he has overseen efforts to protect US elections and has garnered bipartisan support for his work to fight disinformation and ensure trust in the electoral process. He also built strong relationships with private sector security professionals and government officials, many of whom voiced support for him when rumors of his potential termination surfaced last week.

Ahead of those rumors, CISA officials said in a statement that this year's presidential election "was the most secure in American history." The government has both improved visibility into election infrastructure and implemented intrusion detection monitors across all 50 states. A new CISA website aimed to debunk misinformation and disinformation seen across the Web.

On Tuesday evening ahead of his firing, Krebs posted from his government Twitter account: "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.'"

In a series of tweets that ended with Krebs' termination later that evening, President Trump continued to spread baseless claims, stating the 2020 election "was highly inaccurate" and "there were massive improprieties and fraud," as well as "'glitches' in the voting machines."

All of Trump's tweets were marked with a Twitter alert stating, "This claim about election fraud is disputed." Therefore, he said, Krebs was fired "effective immediately."

Krebs later posted from his personal account: "Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure [Tomorrow]."

Read more details here and here.

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Dark Reading Staff

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