Utter Insanity: Trump Lawyer Suggests Former Trump Cybersecurity Official Should Be 'Taken Out And Shot' For Saying The Election Was Secure

from the what-is-wrong-with-these-people? dept

Every day that I think I can't be shocked and horrified by anything being done in the name of politics today, I end up being more shocked and more horrified. The latest is that one of the President's campaign lawyers, Joe diGenova, who has been involved in a wide range of politically motivated conspiracy theory mongering, went on the Howie Carr show to say that fired CISA director Chris Krebs should be "taken out and shot."

There's a lot to unpack here. First off, we wrote about Krebs being fired by Trump for daring to contradict the narrative that the election was rigged. Krebs is one of a very few Trump appointees who was widely respected across the political spectrum. In his years running the newly created Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), he'd been praised by many for the job he had done in actually dealing with cybersecurity threats, and coordinating information sharing about such threats to the private sector.

But him telling the truth and debunking the politically motivated nonsense the President and his dwindling team of supporters are trying to spew, apparently means that Krebs has been cast out as the enemy. Making matters worse (for Trump and his supporters) was that on Sunday, 60 Minutes had Krebs on, in which he made a very credible case that the President was just making shit up in claiming that there was interference or malfeasance in the election. In fact, in that interview, Krebs highlighted the death threats that are being made against election officials, rightly calling it "a travesty" that public servants are put through this nonsense.

And it's, in my view, a travesty what's happening right now with all these death threats to election officials, to secretaries of state. I want everybody to look at Secretary Boockvar in Pennsylvania, Secretary Benson in Michigan, Secretary Cegavske in Nevada, Secretary Hobbs in Arizona. All strong women that are standing up, that are under attack from all sides, and they're defending democracy. They're doin' their jobs. Look at-- look at Secretary Raffensperger in Georgia, lifelong Republican. He put country before party in his holding a free and fair election in that state. There are some real heroes out there. There are some real patriots.

And now Krebs is facing the same nonsense.

Howie Carr, the host of the show is a long time, Boston-based, Trump-supporting talk show host and columnist. He had diGenova on his show, which was simulcast to Newsmax (one of the two Trump-loving TV networks trying to take over the insane conspiracy theory pushing crown from Fox News) and allowed diGenova to say that Krebs should be killed. Carr doesn't appear to have the video of it up on his own YouTube channel yet, but MediaMatters has the clip that you can see for yourself.

diGenova: This was not a coincidence. This was all planned. And anybody who thinks the election went well, like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity for DHS.

Carr:: Oh yeah, the guy who was on 60 Minutes last night.

diGenova: That guy... that guy is a class A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot,

Carr then chuckles for a bit before changing the subject.

Let's be totally clear: this is offensive and dangerous. It would be offensive and dangerous coming from anyone, but the fact that it's coming from a lawyer currently representing the President of the United States is completely and utterly terrifying. No, it almost certainly doesn't reach the "true threats" test of the Supreme Court to be speech not protected by the 1st Amendment, but that doesn't mean it's not wildly inappropriate and dangerous.

I understand that Trump's circle of grifters and hanger-ons will not let truth, accuracy, or common decency stand in the way of spreading their cult of bullshit, lies, FUD, and nonsense, but the rest of the country ought to speak up and make it clear that this is totally unacceptable. And that includes Republicans in Congress who have continued to try to look the other way or pretend that what Trump and his band of legal misfits are doing is totally normal and acceptable. It is not.

Filed Under: chris krebs, election security, elections, howie carr, joe digenova, rhetoric