Former head of U.S. election security calls Trump team fraud allegations 'farcical' in first interview since his firing
The top U.S. cybersecurity official fired by Republican President Donald Trump for saying the November 3rd election was the most secure in American history said on Friday voter fraud allegations made by Trump and his allies are 'farcical'.
In his first interview since being fired by Trump, Chris Krebs, the former director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told CBS 60 Minutes that allegations of U.S. voting machines being manipulated by foreign countries were baseless.
Sidney Powell, a Trump attorney cut loose by the Trump legal team this week, had put forward a conspiracy theory that election systems created in Venezuela at the behest of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez helped tip the U.S. election to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.
'There's no evidence that any machine that I'm aware of has been manipulated by a foreign power. Period,' Krebs said, calling such allegations 'farcical claims.'
Powell and others have also alleged that voting machines had flipped votes from Trump to Biden and some U.S. voting information was stored on servers in Germany.
'So all the votes— all votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America,' Krebs said in an excerpt broadcast on the CBS Evening News. 'I don't— I don't understand this claim. All votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America. Period.'
The full 60 Minutes interview will air on Sunday. Krebs was fired by Trump on November 17 after calling the election the 'most secure in American history.'
'I think these— we can go on and on with all the farcical claims alleging interference in the 2020 election, but the proof is in the ballots,' Krebs said.
'The recounts are consistent with the initial count, and to me, that's further evidence, that's confirmation that the systems used in the 2020 election performed as expected, and the American people should have 100% confidence in their vote.'
He added: 'The American people should have 100% confidence in their vote.'
Krebs firing came after he declared the election to be 'the most secure in American history.'
Trump fired Krebs in a pair of tweets saying: 'The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate.' Twitter flagged the tweets with a warning saying the claims about election fraud were disputed.
'There were massive improprieties and fraud - including dead people voting, Poll Watchers not allowed into polling locations, 'glitches' in the voting machines which changed...votes from Trump to Biden, late voting, and many more,' he said.
Less than an hour after Trump's tweet, Krebs tweeted from his personal Twitter account: 'Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomorrow. #Protect2020.'
Speaking about his sacking, Krebs said that it did not come as a shock.
'I don't know if I was necessarily surprised. It's not how I wanted to go out. I think I-- the thing that upsets me the most about that is I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my team. And I'd worked with them for three and a half years, in the trenches. Building an agency, putting CISA on the national stage. And I love that team. And I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, so that's what I'm most upset about,' Krebs said.
Biden won the election with 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232. He leads Trump by over six million in the popular vote.
Trump and his lawyers continue to allege, without evidence, that the election was stolen through widespread fraud and that Trump is the winner.
Trump said on Thursday he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Biden.