U.S. President Donald Trump has fired the head of the cyber unit charged with protecting the 2020 presidential elections. The ousting of Christopher Krebs by the president came after he claimed that the elections were fair, accurate and free of any cyberattacks.
In a tweet, Trump accused Krebs of issuing "highly inaccurate" statements. Trump has yet to concede to Joe Biden. He has repeatedly claimed that the elections were fraudulent and that cheating and computer fraud was involved. Trump announced his decision of removing Krebs from his position on Twitter.
"Effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency," Trump wrote.
After the 2016 presidential elections, where Russian involvement was alleged, the government formed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Krebs was placed in charge of running the new agency.
CISA received high praise from both Democrats and Republicans for ensuring a smooth and interference-free election this year. However, some detractors - including Trump - have continually alleged that the elections were tainted.
In response to the claims, Krebs posted a tweet Tuesday, stating that 59 election security specialists had found no evidence of tampering or computer fraud during the 2020 elections.
Krebs' removal is the latest in a series of management changes since Trump's defeat earlier in the month. Last month, CISA's assistant director, Bryan Ware, submitted his resignation. Ware did not explain why he had left but sources familiar with the matter claimed that he was asked by the White House to resign.
Also last week, Trump announced that he will be removing Defense Secretary Mark Esper from his post. Trump replaced Esper with Christopher Miller, the current director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
Biden was declared the likely winner after he surpassed the 270 electoral vote threshold needed. Biden was also shown to be leading Trump in terms of raw votes.
Despite the evidence, Trump has refused to concede and argued that fraud may have been involved in the counting. Trump has reportedly sought the advice of his allies to find ways to stall or stop his departure from office.
