Former U.S. official sues Trump for defamation

The former top U.S. cybersecurity official responsible for securing November’s presidential election sued the Trump campaign and one of its lawyers for defamation Tuesday, asserting that they conspired to falsely claim the election was stolen, attack dissenting Republicans and fraudulently reap political donations.

Christopher Krebs, who was fired Nov. 17 by President Donald Trump after he refuted the president’s claims of widespread election fraud, singled out comments made almost two weeks later by attorney Joseph diGenova, who said Krebs should face the same punishment inflicted on those convicted of treason because he had asserted that the 2020 election was the most secure in history.

“He should be drawn and quartered,” diGenova said on the outlet Newsmax, a third defendant. “Taken out at dawn and shot.”

He also labeled Krebs an “idiot” and a “class-A moron” during the segment, which unleashed a flood of social media comments that left Krebs, his wife and several of their young children in fear for their lives, according to the lawsuit.

At one point, according to the lawsuit, the Krebs’s 10-year-old child asked: “Daddy’s going to get executed?”

The 52-page complaint was filed in Maryland state court in Montgomery County, where diGenova resides. The lawsuit accused diGenova and the Trump campaign of defamation and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” It labeled Newsmax an aider and abettor. Krebs seeks a jury trial, money and punitive damages and an injunction ordering Newsmax to remove video of the incident.

“Threats like these will not stop me from speaking out,” he said in an interview. “I will take the necessary steps to protect myself and my family.”

DiGenova has said his comments about Krebs were sarcastic and made in jest.

“I, of course, wish Mr. Krebs no harm,” he said in a Dec. 1 statement. “This was hyperbole in a political discourse.”

The Trump campaign and Newsmax did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesday. When reached, diGenova declined to comment.

Krebs’ accusations come as the Trump campaign’s strategy of using the courts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory through claims of widespread fraud has so far failed but has helped raise about $207.5 million since Election Day.

The lawsuit also spotlights a split between dominant traditional media players like Fox News and Twitter, and newcomers like Newsmax and social media site Parler, which are increasingly drawing Trump’s support. Late last week, the attorneys for Krebs asked Newsmax Media chief executive Christopher Ruddy to remove from the company’s website its interview of diGenova. And they submitted a letter to executives at Parler, asking the social media site to remove approximately 15 posts calling for Krebs’s death.

The lawsuit asserts that the defendants have a “symbiotic relationship”: Newsmax disseminated the campaign’s attacks on the election, eliciting endorsements from Trump, increasing ratings and drawing political donations.

“United by a common desire to incite outrage over the 2020 election and those who would defend its integrity, Defendants worked in concert to attack and punish Plaintiff for informing the public that the election was secure,” the complaint said.

Krebs surfaced last month as a high-ranking Republican willing to call out Trump’s allegations of widespread voter fraud. At the time, he directed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security.

On Nov. 12, the agency published a joint statement with state and local elections officials that described the presidential election as “the most secure in American history.” Trump fired Krebs five days later, calling his comments “highly inaccurate.”

“There is no foreign power that is flipping votes. There’s no domestic actor flipping votes. I did it right. We did it right,” Krebs reaffirmed on “60 Minutes” on Nov. 29.

The next day, diGenova called in by phone to “The Howie Carr Show,” broadcast on Newsmax.

“Mail-in balloting is inherently corrupt, and this election proved it,” diGenova said before suggesting that Krebs be executed.

A second later, the show flashed to an image of Krebs speaking on “60 Minutes.” Krebs’s attorneys say that suggests two possibilities: Either the show knew in advance that diGenova was about to unload on Krebs and planned accordingly, or the show was recorded ahead of time, which in theory would have allowed Newsmax to cut the execution suggestions.