Ex-Cyber Chief Krebs Calls Election Conspiracies ‘Corrosive’

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. cybersecurity chief fired by Donald Trump last month said continued efforts by the president and his allies to question the election results now that Joe Biden has officially won are having a “corrosive” effect on American institutions.

“Continued assaults on democracy and the outcome of this election that only serves to undermine confidence in the process is ultimately, as you both have said, ultimately corrosive to the institutions that support elections,” Christopher Krebs, the first director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

Trump fired Krebs last month after the former CISA director and other officials called the Nov. 3 election “the most secure in American history,” saying he ignored fraud in the election. Krebs also used CISA’s website before the election to debunk claims of voter fraud from the president and his supporters.

Those moves undercut Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud and a “rigged” election, a position he continues to stake out even after dozens of legal challenges failed and the Electoral College on Monday confirmed Biden’s victory.

Trump even criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just after midnight on Wednesday for recognizing Biden’s victory following the Electoral College vote.

Krebs -- who won rare bipartisan praise after he was fired -- told the committee he’s seen nothing since the election to question his assessment, based on the preparations ahead of voting, cooperation among state and federal officials and the use of paper ballots to confirm the results.

“While elections are sometimes messy, this was a secure election, of that I have no doubt,” Krebs said.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the committee’s chairman, said he called the hearing despite criticism because, although he doesn’t challenge the outcome of the election, he believes there was fraud and said it’s important to expose it.

“We must restore confidence in the integrity of our voting system,” Johnson said. “This effort should be bipartisan.”

But Democrats and Republican Senator Mitt Romney urged that the hearing not take place. Democratic Senator Gary Peters called the hearing “dangerous,” saying it provides another opportunity for Trump and his supporters to spread disinformation about the election.

“These claims are false, and giving them more oxygen is a grave threat to the future of our democracy,” Peters said.

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