By Christopher Bing and Joseph Menn
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Top U.S. cybersecurity official Christopher Krebs has told associates he expects to be fired by the White House, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Krebs, who heads the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), did not return messages seeking comment. CISA and the White House declined comment.
Separately, Bryan Ware, assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, confirmed to Reuters that he had handed in his resignation on Thursday.
Krebs has drawn widespread bipartisan praise for his handling of the Nov. 3 U.S. election, which generally ran smoothly despite persistent fears that foreign hackers might try to undermine the vote.
But he drew the ire of the Trump White House over a website run by CISA dubbed “Rumor Control” which debunks misinformation about the election, according to the three people familiar with the matter.
White House officials have asked for content to be edited or removed from the website, which has pushed back against false claims that Democrats are behind a mass election fraud operation. CISA officials have refused to delete accurate information.
Ware is one of several officials who have left national security-related posts since President Donald Trump lost the election to Joe Biden. Trump has yet to concede.
Ware did not provide details, but a U.S. official familiar with his matter said the White House asked for Ware’s resignation earlier this week.
The churn is being closely watched amid concern for the integrity of the transition from Trump to Biden.
(Reporting by Christopher Bing. Additional reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington. Editing by Nick Macfie)
