Election integrity hearing turns into Christopher Krebs show

By Emily Brooks

A Senate hearing about irregularities in the 2020 election got upstaged by one of its own star witnesses: Christopher Krebs.

Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within the Department of Homeland Security, was publicly fired by President Trump last month after Krebs declared the 2020 election to be the “most secure in American history.”

Though Krebs had testified before Congress before, his presence at Wednesday’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing (which occurred two days after the Electoral College gave Joe Biden a winning 306 votes and more Republicans started to recognize him as the president-elect) turned him into a tool for both sides of the aisle.

Democrats on the committee selected Krebs as a witness and asked him to reiterate his assessment that the election faced no significant security threats.

“I think we’re past the point where we need to be having conversations about the outcome of this election,” Krebs said in response to a question from Democratic ranking member Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan. “You’re not so much trying to convince the winner they won. It’s the loser that they lost. And you need willing participants on both sides. And I think we’ve got to get back to that point. Otherwise, we’re gonna have a very difficult time going forward maintaining confidence in this American experiment.”

Democrats heavily focused on Krebs.

Several senators brought up threats that Krebs faced after being fired. Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire asked Krebs several questions about his relationship with Trump administration officials before his firing, but Krebs said that he was never directly asked to not debunk election information or that his job was at stake if he continued to do so. Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, after having asked Krebs a few questions, gave her remaining two-and-a-half minutes of time to Krebs.

Republicans on the committee also used Krebs to their own advantage, though, prompting him to distinguish his assertion of security in terms of reliability of voting machines and threats from foreign adversaries from issues such as dead people voting or using a different person’s ballot.

“Fraud is a different matter. It’s a criminal matter,” Krebs said.

“The courts haven’t decided the facts. They never looked at the facts,” Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said during the hearing. “The fraud happened. The election in many ways was stolen, and the only way it will be fixed is by in the future reinforcing the laws.”

Trump, who live-tweeted parts of the hearing, also chimed in on Krebs being there.

“Chris Krebs was totally excoriated and proven wrong at the Senate Hearing on the Fraudulent 2020 Election,” the president tweeted. “Massive FRAUD took place with machines, people voting from out of state, illegals, dead people, no signatures — and so much more!”

Later in the hearing, Republican committee chairman Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin apologized to two of the committee witnesses, Donald Palmer of the Election Assistance Commission and Pennsylvania state Rep. Francis Ryan, for not having any questions directed their way.

But Krebs also earned praise from Johnson and other Republicans.

“I appreciate your service the country, and I appreciate what you accomplished,” Johnson told Krebs.