Trump fires top election official who contradicted him
Donald Trump says he has fired a top election official who contradicted the US president's claims of voter fraud.
President Trump said he “terminated” Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) chief Chris Krebs for his “highly inaccurate” remarks on vote integrity.
Mr. Trump has refused to concede the US election and has made unsubstantiated claims of “massive” voter fraud.
Election officials said the vote was the “most secure” in US history.
Mr. Krebs is the latest official to be dismissed by the US president following his defeat, with Defense Secretary Mark Esper also shown the door amid reports Mr. Trump doubted the Pentagon chief’s loyalty.
There is speculation in Washington DC that before Mr. Trump leaves office in January, CIA director Gina Haspel and FBI director Christopher Wray could also be on the chopping block.
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Like many others fired by Mr. Trump, Mr. Krebs reportedly only learned he was out of a job when he saw the president’s tweet on Tuesday.
But following his dismissal, the former Microsoft executive appeared to have no regrets.
He had run the agency from its inception two years ago in the aftermath of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
To guard against potential cyber-threats, Cisa works with state and local election officials and the private companies that supply voting systems, while monitoring ballot tabulation and the power grid.
Meanwhile, election officials conducting a by-hand recount in Georgia – where a fraction of a percent separates the two rivals – found more uncounted ballots for the second time this week.
Almost 2,800 previously untallied ballots were discovered on Tuesday in Fayette County, a day after 2,600 uncounted votes turned up in Floyd County. Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system manager, blamed human error.
The discoveries are expected to shave Mr Biden’s lead in the state to under 13,000, not enough to flip Georgia into Mr Trump’s column.
Also on Tuesday, the Trump campaign, along with Nevada’s Republican party, filed another lawsuit challenging that state’s election results.
Mr Biden is the projected victor in Nevada, but the latest legal action asked a judge to declare Mr Trump the winner or annul the race altogether.
Judges have rejected other Trump campaign lawsuits disputing the tally in Clark County, home to Las Vegas, after ruling there was no evidence to support claims of systemic fraud.
Source: bbc.com
