Krebs says allegations of foreign interference in 2020 election ‘farcical’ 

Christopher Krebs, the top federal cybersecurity official who was fired by President Trump last week due to his efforts to dispel concerns on 2020 election safety, said claims of foreign meddling this year are “farcical.”

In an excerpt released Friday from a “60 minutes” interview set to air on Sunday, Krebs was asked to react to allegations from Trump’s legal team that votes were tabulated in foreign countries.

“So all the votes — all votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America,” Krebs said.  “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.”

Interviewer Scott Pelley referenced baseless claims from Sidney Powell, the lawyer who had loose ties to the Trump campaign, that linked former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to problems with voting machines. 

During a press conference last week, Powell alleged without evidence that Dominion Voting Systems, which supplies voting machines across the United States, used technology developed by Chávez, who died in 2013. She said votes were being manipulated overseas to favor Joe Biden. 

Krebs said there is “no evidence that any machine that I’m aware of has been manipulated by a foreign power. Period.”

Pelley then referenced to allegations made by Powell and Rudy Giuliani that a bloc of communist countries had hijacked the nation’s voting machines by installing an algorithm to flip a percentage of Trump votes over to Biden.

“Look, 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 percent confidence in their vote.”

There’s no evidence that voting machines were manipulated by foreign actors says Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in his first interview since President Trump fired him.

Sunday, on 60 Minutes. https://t.co/hGN4sWWZfE pic.twitter.com/1YTjmbcPOb

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 27, 2020

The former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a Trump appointee, had coordinated with state and local officials to boost election security following Russian interference in 2016. 

CISA put out a statement earlier this month from stakeholders and officials that affirmed that the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history” and dispelled assertions that voting systems were in some way compromised, representing an fierce rebuke to the claims from the president and his supporters. 

“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” the officials emphasized. 

Trump fired Krebs on last Tuesday “effective immediately,” calling the statement “highly inaccurate” and claiming without evidence that “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,” the president wrote in a statement. “Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”

…votes from Trump to Biden, late voting, and many more. Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020

In another except of the “60 Minutes” interview, Krebs said he wasn’t “necessarily surprised” by his abrupt termination but was disappointed.

“I think the thing that upsets me the most about that is I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my team,” the former CISA director continued. “And I’d worked with them for 3 ½ 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.”

The full “60 Minutes” interview with Krebs is scheduled to air at 7:30 p.m. EST on Sunday.