President Donald Trump has said in a tweet that he ‘terminated’ top election official, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) chief Chris Krebs, for his ‘highly inaccurate’ remarks on vote integrity in the United States presidential election.
This latest development comes as Trump continues to refuse to concede the election to president-elect Joe Biden, while continuing to make unsubstantiated claims of ‘massive’ voter fraud.
Hours before his ousting, Krebs posted a tweet that appeared to take aim at Trump’s allegation that voting machines in various states had switched ballots to Biden, the BBC reported.
Krebs 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.’
Krebs was among senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security who last week declared the 3 November election the ‘most secure in American history’, while rejecting ‘unfounded claims’.
Cisa was headed by Krebs from its inception two years ago in the aftermath of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The BBC reports that, to guard against potential cyber-threats, Cisa works with state and local election officials and the private companies that supply voting systems, while monitoring ballot tabulation and the power grid.