President Donald Trump fired top U.S. cybersecurity official Chris Krebs, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is saying he did it because Krebs spoke “truth to power.”
After calling Krebs “deeply respected,” Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday, “Instead of rewarding this patriotic service, the President has fired Director Krebs for speaking truth to power and rejecting Trump’s constant campaign of election falsehoods.”
“The President’s insistence on distracting and dividing the country by denying his defeat in the election undermines our democracy,” the House speaker added.
She later wrote:
“Instead of stooping to this dangerous and shameful charade, Trump needs to get serious about crushing the accelerating pandemic that has killed nearly 250,000 Americans, infected over 11 million people in our country and devastated the livelihoods of tens of millions more.”
The president accused Krebs — the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — Tuesday evening of issuing a “highly inaccurate” statement, when he said there “is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”
“The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud,” Trump tweeted, which Twitter flagged his claims on election fraud as “disputed.”
He added, “Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”
Trump has refused to concede the election, though several major outlets projected President-elect Joe Biden as the winner. The president has filed lawsuits in multiple states and has made unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
…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 wrote in a tweet shortly after, “Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure [Tomorrow].” According to CNN, Krebs learned he was fired through Trump’s tweet.