Politico | Top US cyber official expecting to be fired as White House frustrations hit agency protecting elections
- Chris Krebs is in the Trump administration’s crosshairs in part because of a website he created to debunk election-related misinformation
- Defence Secretary Mark Esper and other top Pentagon officials have already been forced out since president’s loss to Joe Biden
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Eric Geller and Natasha Bertrand on politico.com on November 12, 2020.
The US government’s top cybersecurity official has told people that he expects the White House to fire him, three people familiar with the situation told POLITICO, as the Trump administration continues a purge of officials deemed disloyal to the president.
Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is in the White House’s crosshairs in part because of a website he created to debunk election-related misinformation – much of which President Donald Trump and other Republican Party leaders have embraced as they seek to undermine the legitimacy of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
In another sign of trouble for CISA, which has for years avoided the chaos of the Trump administration, another top agency official quit on Thursday.
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Bryan Ware, the leader of CISA’s Cybersecurity Division, confirmed his departure to POLITICO but did not identify a reason. However, a US official familiar with the matter told Reuters that the White House requested his resignation.