NY Times: Firing of Election Security Official Probed
U.S. special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed Trump White House staff members who might have been involved in firing the government cybersecurity official whose agency judged the 2020 election "the most secure in American history," The New York Times reported.
Smith is investigating former President Donald Trump's efforts to show that the 2020 election was decided by voter fraud in several key battleground states.
Christopher Krebs, the Trump administration's top cybersecurity official during the 2020 election, disagreed with the then-president's assessment of the election results.
Krebs is among those interviewed by Smith's team, according to a Times source.
Smith's team also is probing how White House officials, including in the Presidential Personnel Office, approached the Justice Department (DOJ) after the 2020 election, Times sources said.
Trump reportedly wanted the DOJ to
call the election results "corrupt."
The
Times reported Wednesday that the special counsel's latest subpoenas, issued about two weeks ago, went to officials in the personnel office.
Smith's investigation appears focused on Trump's state of mind at the time Krebs
was fired on Nov. 17, 2020.
Krebs' agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, joined other state and federal officials in saying
it had "utmost confidence in the security and integrity" of the Nov. 3, 2020 vote.
"The Nov. 3rd election was the most secure in American history," the officials said in their statement, released nine days after he election. "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
Five days later, Trump "terminated" Krebs for releasing a "highly inaccurate" statement about the election.
Krebs later testified before then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House Jan. 6 select committee special committee that he had been aware of "skepticism" among Trump allies about his "loyalty to the president" before he was fired.
ABC News reported that Trump staffers drafted a document about Krebs and why he was to be distrusted. The memo included that Krebs' wife "posted a family photo on Facebook with the 'Biden Harris' logo watermarked at the bottom."
The Times reported that Smith's team is asking witnesses about efforts made by Trump's personnel officials to research federal officials and potential hires about their loyalty to Trump.
John McEntee, Trump's former personal aide, was seen going into the grand jury in recent months, the Times reported.