Ex-election security chief Christopher Krebs calls out GOP on threats against election officials: ‘It’s got to stop’

Corrections/clarifications: An earlier version of this article misstated Christopher Krebs’ message to Republicans. It has been updated to reflect he urged Republicans to stand up to threats against election officials.

WASHINGTON – Former election security chief Christopher Krebs said he has not seen anything that would change his opinion that the 2020 election was secure and urged Republicans to call out threats and harassment against local election officials who have rejected baseless claims of widespread fraud. 

“This is not the America I recognize. It’s got to stop. We need everyone across the leadership ranks to stand up,” Krebs testified Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. “I would appreciate more support from my own party, the Republican Party, to call this stuff out and end it. We’ve gotta move on. We have a president-elect in President-elect Biden.”

Krebs defended election officials who have been the subject of threats, particularly Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting implementation manager. Both have pushed back against claims from President Donald Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was tainted with systemic fraud. 

“These are Republicans that are putting country over party,” Krebs said. “They are being subjected to just horrific threats as a result.”

Krebs also called out domestic disinformation campaigns.

“We have to stop this. It’s undermining confidence in democracy,” he said.

Krebs, who presided over an elaborate election security effort by the Department of Homeland Security, was fired by Trump last month as part of a post-election purge of top national security officials. Krebs’ ouster follows the agency’s declaration that the general election was the most secure in U.S. history.

Trump fires election security chief:Trump ousts Homeland Security cyber chief Chris Krebs, who called election secure

The statement served as a pointed rebuke to Trump, who has continued to make unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud while his legal team sought to overturn election results in battleground states that President-elect Joe Biden won. Local and federal judges, including those appointed by Trump, have largely rejected those efforts. The Supreme Court has also refused to hear challenges brought by the president’s allies.

“To be clear, based on my experience and understanding, no adversary has yet developed the ability to manipulate a single vote cast in a U.S. election. Furthermore, even if such a hack were conducted, it would be incredibly difficult to carry out such an operation on a scale that could change the outcome of a national election,” Krebs said in his written opening statement.

Krebs also said claims that hackers and malicious algorithms flipped votes in several states, as well as allegations that an election equipment vendor had ties to a deceased foreign dictator don’t square “with what we know about the facts.”

“They are also dangerous and only serve to confuse, scare, and ultimately undermine confidence in the election,” Krebs said. 

Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, whom Krebs did not name, had spun an elaborate tale that former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez orchestrated an effort to rig U.S. elections by conspiring with Dominion Voting Systems. Chavez died seven years ago. 

Judges in multiple states have dismissed the election claims. In Michigan, a federal judge said: “This lawsuit seems to be less about achieving the relief Plaintiffs seek – as much of that relief is beyond the power of this Court – and more about the impact of their allegations on People’s faith in the democratic process and their trust in our government.”

Election security officials:‘No evidence voting systems compromised’

Claims of vote flipping are both “inaccurate” and “technically incoherent,” Krebs said, citing a statement signed by 59 national security experts.

“Do systems have vulnerabilities? Yes. But vulnerabilities do not automatically translate into hacked systems and votes changed,” Krebs said. “Appropriate resilience measures built into election systems mean that with reliable paper and meaningful post-election canvassing and auditing that can repeatedly confirm outcomes, voters can still have confidence in the process.”

Earlier this month, Krebs sued the Trump campaign and one of the president’s lawyers for defamation, claiming that the attorney falsely characterized his remarks as treasonous while suggesting that Krebs be “taken out at dawn and shot.”

Contributing: Kevin Johnson

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