Trump campaign lawyer calls for fired DHS election security official to be 'shot'

Chris Krebs has spoken out against the president's election fraud claims.

December 1, 2020, 10:27 AM

A lawyer for President Donald Trump's campaign has attacked the former top cyber official at DHS, after he spoke out against the president's claims that the election was fraudulent.

Joe diGenova said that former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Chris Krebs "should be drawn and quartered, taken out at dawn and shot."

DiGenova, speaking on the conservative outlet Newsmax, said that Krebs was an "idiot."

"Mail in balloting is inherently corrupt and this election proved it," diGenova told host Howie Carr. "This was not a coincidence, this was all planned. Anybody who thinks that this election went well like that idiot Krebs," he said. "That guy is a Class A moron," diGenova said. "He should be drawn and quartered, taken out at dawn and shot."

PHOTO: Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, attends the Conference of Mayors 88th Winter Meeting at the Capital Hilton, in Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2020.
Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, attends the Conference of Mayors 88th Winter Meeting at the Capital Hilton, in Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2020.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

Krebs was fired by the president last month after repeatedly speaking out against the president's various claims, saying the election had been the most secure in U.S. history.

"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 said in a tweet.

"Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency."

Krebs, on NBC's "Today" program Tuesday morning, said that diGenova's comments were examples of "more dangerous language, more dangerous behavior."

"We're a nation of laws, and I plan to take advantage of those laws," Krebs said. "I've got an exceptional team of lawyers that win in court and I think they're going to be busy." Adding that his team is exploring all options, but warning that "they can know that there are things coming."

On the CBS program "60 Minutes" over the weekend, Krebs defended his work leading the agency in securing the 2020 election saying, “I did it right, we did it right. This was a secure election” and “there was no indication or evidence that there was any sort of hacking or compromise of election systems on, before or after November 3.”

Adding that the Trump campaign claims of hacking into voting machines, for example, is “nonsense.”

Trump fired back on Twitter.

".@60Minutes never asked us for a comment about their ridiculous, one sided story on election security, which is an international joke. Our 2020 Election, from poorly rated Dominion to a Country FLOODED with unaccounted for Mail-In ballots, was probably our least secure EVER!" the president said Sunday.

Krebs was on thin ice with the president for the entire month of November, especially after the election when he repeatedly tweeted from his official CISA account, correcting falsehoods purported by the president's campaign.

The former CISA chief said on NBC Tuesday that he was "thankful" for the president for giving him the opportunity to serve but that when one enters federal service, they pledge an oath to the Constitution.

Krebs and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

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