The special prosecutor investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election has summoned staffers from Trump’s White House who may have been involved. fired a government cybersecurity official, which it called the “safest” election. in American history,” according to two people who briefed on the matter.
The team led by special counsel Jack Smith asked witnesses about the surrounding events fired Christopher Krebswho was the Trump administration’s top cybersecurity official during the 2020 election. Mr. Krebs’ assessment that the election was safe contrasts with Mr. Trump’s baseless assertions that it was a “fraud on the American public”.
Mr. Smith’s team is also seeking information on how White House officials, including the Office of Presidential Personnel, approached the Justice Department, which Mr. Trump turned to after his election defeat. a way to try to stay in power, people familiar with the question said.
Investigators appear to be focusing on Mr. Trump’s mood around Krebs’ firing, as well as establishing a timeline of events leading up to the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob that day. January 6, 2021. The latest subpoena, issued about two weeks ago, has reached officials in the human resources office, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Krebs angered Mr. Trump when his agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, release a statement nine days after the 2020 election attests to the confidentiality of the results. The statement added a sharp rebuke – in bold – to the baseless conspiracy theories Mr. Trump and his allies are spreading about compromised voting machines.
“There is no evidence that any electoral system has deleted or lost votes, altered votes, or been compromised in any way,” the statement from Mr Krebs’ agency read.
Five days later, Mr Trump tweeted that Mr Krebs had been “terminated” after making a “very inaccurate” statement about the 2020 election.
Mr. Krebs later testify to the special committee of the House of Representatives investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol that before he was fired, he was aware of the “skepticism” of Trump’s allies about his “loyalty to the president.”
It is more than skepticism. In the President’s Office of Personnel, a small group of Trump loyalists, led by John McEntee, a former personal aide to Mr Trump, are on a mission to find and fire those deemed no-nos. loyal to Mr. Trump in the federal administration. And they have classified the outspoken Mr. Krebs, who was appointed by Mr. Trump himself, into the ranks of the disloyal.
Personnel in the human resources office drafted a document about Mr. Krebs, which outlined reasons not to trust him. The memo, first reported by ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, details a series of alleged crimes committed by Mr Krebs against Mr Trump, including: “His wife posted a family photo on Facebook with ‘Biden Harris’ logo is embossed at the bottom.”
Mr. Smith’s team is questioning witnesses about the broader efforts of Mr. Trump’s staffing officials to test the loyalty of federal officials and potential hires, who were informed. on this matter said. McEntee has been seen on the grand jury in recent months.
Months before the 2020 election, Mr McEntee, now the head of a dating app for conservatives, and a deputy sought to overhaul the government’s recruitment process. They have developed what some officials call “loyalty test” — a new questionnaire to government hires asking questions like “What part of Candidate Trump’s campaign message appealed to you most and why?”
Mr Krebs was among those Mr Smith’s team interviewed, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr Krebs declined to comment when contacted.
Mr. Smith’s team is also trying to understand how the human resources office interacts with the Justice Department as Mr. Trump learns of any tools available in his administration that could help him overturn the election results. 2020.
In his final weeks in office, Mr. Trump grew increasingly frustrated with department leaders as one after another rejected his pressure to falsely claim large-scale voter fraud. happened in swing states, such as Georgia, that Mr. Trump had. lose to Mr. Biden.
At the time of the election, Heidi Stirrup, a person close to Trump’s policy adviser, Stephen Miller, had been appointed as the White House liaison at the Justice Department. Mr. Smith’s office questioned her role, one of the people briefed on the matter said.
Ms Stirrup was banned from the Department of Justice building a month after the 2020 election, after she attempted to glean sensitive information from department officials on efforts to track down election fraud, according to officials with knowledge of the case.
Soon after, Attorney General William P. Barr, whom Mr. Trump had long considered an ally, resigned after telling Mr. Trump that his election fraud theory was bogus and the legal team reason he assembled to challenge the result was a “clown”. show.” Jeffrey A. Rosen, Barr’s replacement, also refused to follow Trump’s orders to use the Justice Department apparatus to overturn the election.
Jeffrey B. Clark, acting chief of civil service, is the only senior Justice Department official to support Trump’s efforts to overturn President Biden’s victory. Mr. Clark has a relatively low profile, but during the frenzy after the election, Mr. Trump identified him as his most important ally in the department. Mr. Trump seriously considered firing Mr. Rosen and putting Mr. Clark in charge.
