Trump Retaliates Against Former CISA Director Krebs - Dark Reading

THREAT INTELLIGENCE CYBERSECURITY OPERATIONS CYBERSECURITY CAREERS DATA PRIVACY NEWS Trump's DoJ Targets Krebs, Revokes SentinelOne Security Clearance An executive order is targeting former Trump appointees, including former CISA director Chris Krebs and his current coworkers, in the latest in a series of directives against those who dissented against the president and his associates. Kristina Beek,Associate Editor,Dark Reading April 10, 2025 2 Min Read SOURCE: SIPA USA VIA ALAMY STOCK PHOTO NEWS BRIEF President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to investigate two of his first-term appointees over their criticism of his election fraud claims and has revoked their security clearances. On April 9, Trump signed executive orders (EO) directing the Justice Department to investigate Chris Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Krebs, who Trump fired in 2020 via a post on Twitter (now X), was dismissed when he countered false claims of election fraud, stating that "in every case of which we are aware, these claims [of fraud] either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent." Trump continues to claim that the 2020 election was rigged and labeled Krebs as "a significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his government authority" in the directive. Krebs is currently employed at SentinelOne as its chief intelligence and public policy officer. The security clearance revocation also applies to any of his SentinelOne coworkers, according to the EO. "In regard to the Executive Order dated April 9, 2025 focused on Chris Krebs in his prior role as a government employee, we will actively cooperate in any review of security clearances held by any of our personnel — currently less than 10 employees overall and only where required by existing government processes and procedures to secure government systems," according to SentinelOne's official statement on its website in response to the EO. "Accordingly, we do not expect this to materially impact our business in any way." Trump is using the same tactics on Miles Taylor, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official. Taylor began working for Trump after the 2016 election, joining the Homeland Security Department before eventually becoming chief of staff to secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. A few years later, however, Taylor began criticizing Trump and his administration anonymously, before leaving the administration altogether and publishing a book, appropriately entitled Anonymous, depicting the president as unfit for office. He revealed his identity to the public in 2020. Now Trump is retaliating, accusing Taylor of leaking classified information and stripping him of any active security clearances.  These retaliatory actions are just some of the many that have been coming out of the White House. The president also signed a separate order on Wednesday imposing limits on big law firm Susman Godfrey, which represented Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine maker, in its defamation case against Rudy Giuliani and other Trump affiliates. Read more about: News Briefs About the Author Kristina Beek Associate Editor, Dark Reading Kristina Beek is an associate editor at Dark Reading, where she covers a wide range of cybersecurity topics and spearheads video-related content. She is the creator and host of the Heard It From a CISO video series, where she interviews CISOs, directors, and other industry strategists to provide insights into the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape. In addition to her editorial work, Kristina manages Dark Reading's social media channels and contributes to the platform's video coverage. Kristina graduated from North Carolina State University in 2021 with a degree in Political Science, concentrating in law and justice, and a minor in English. During her time at NC State, she honed her writing skills by contributing opinion pieces to the university's newspaper. After graduation, she began her career as a content editor before joining Dark Reading. Currently based in Washington, DC, you can find Kristina reading, taking walks in Georgetown, and wandering the museums surrounding the National Mall. Want more Dark Reading stories in your Google search results? 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