US President, Donald Trump has fired the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Chief, Chris Krebs for his “highly inaccurate” remarks on vote integrity.
President Trump said in a tweet that, “The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud.
“Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”
Prior to his firing, Mr Krebs had issued a statement stating that there “is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”
He tweeted, “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”.
Mr Krebs also responded to the president’s tweet shortly after his firing saying, “Honoured to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tmorrow. #Protect2020.”
Chris Krebs is the latest official to be dismissed by the US president following his defeat, with Defence Secretary, Mark Esper also terminated last week amid reports Mr Trump doubted the Pentagon chief’s loyalty.
Bryan Ware, assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA also handed in his resignation on November 12. Although he did not provide details, it has been widely speculated that the White House had asked for his resignation.
Mr Krebs has been in charge of CISA, from its creation in the wake of Russian interference with the 2016 election through the November election.
He has received praise from Democrats and Republicans for his handling of the election, which generally ran smoothly despite fears that foreign hackers might try to undermine the vote.
President Trump, has yet to concede to Joe Biden, who has been projected as the winner of November 3rd elections and has repeatedly made repeated claims of electoral fraud.
More to follow
