What happened: Donald Trump has fired the director of the federal agency that vouched for the reliability of the 2020 election and pushed back on the president’s baseless claims of voter fraud. CISA Director Christopher Krebs had recently consulted with the White House over his agency’s Rumor Control blog, which rebuts false claims of election fraud and hacking. The firing of Krebs, a Trump appointee, shows Trump’s refusal to recognize the victory of the president-elect, Joe Biden, and removing high-level officials seen as insufficiently loyal. He fired Mark Esper, the defense secretary, on 9 November part of a broader shake-up that put Trump loyalists in senior Pentagon positions
What people are saying: Adam Schiff, the Democratic California congressman who chairs the House intelligence committee, said that this act by Trump is “ pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy”.
Krebs, from his personal Twitter account, responded: “Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow.” He closed with the phrase “Protect 2020,” which had been his agency’s slogan ahead of the election
Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow. #Protect2020
— Chris Krebs (@C_C_Krebs) November 18, 2020