Christopher Krebs is one of the few Republicans to come out of the 2020 elections with integrity. Krebs, as director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said that there hadn’t been significant voter fraud—that, in fact, these elections were “the most secure in American history.” For that, Donald Trump fired him.
Krebs didn’t shut up and go quietly, though. And for that, the response has been predictably vicious. Now, Krebs is suing the Trump campaign, one of its lawyers, and the right-wing news outlet Newsmax. The suit accuses the Trump campaign and lawyer Joseph diGenova of defamation and “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” and Newsmax of being an aider and abettor.
In an interview on Newsmax, diGenova said Krebs “should be drawn and quartered,” and, as if that wasn’t enough, “Taken out at dawn and shot.”
DiGenova, remember, spoke as a part of a movement that includes a lot of armed people parading around making threats, including a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. And his words contributed to a social media rampage against Krebs that, according to the lawsuit, left his 10-year-old child asking “Daddy’s going to get executed?”
“Threats like these will not stop me from speaking out,” Krebs said. “I will take the necessary steps to protect myself and my family.” That includes calling for a jury trial as he seeks money and punitive damages and for Newsmax to take down the diGenova video.
DiGenova previously tried to go the “no big deal, joking!” route so familiar to anyone who’s paid attention to inflammatory statements by Republicans in recent years. “This was hyperbole in a political discourse,” he said in a December 1 statement. Hyperbole in a violent political discourse. Here’s hoping Krebs wins a big enough judgment to make diGenova and his buddies think twice next time.