Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Risks from Chris Krebs and Government Censorship

Fact Sheets

TLDR

This is a “fact” shet for an executive order that mandates immediate revocation of Chris Krebs’ security clearances and suspension of his associates’ clearances pending review. It orders an investigation into Krebs’ CISA tenure, claiming he engaged in partisan censorship and misled the public about election security. The memo characterizes these actions as necessary to end perceived censorship, though these claims contradict expert assessments of CISA’s legitimate cybersecurity mission and represent an unusual application of clearance revocation procedures.

This is a “fact” sheet for a memorandum revoking security clearances for Chris Krebs (former CISA Director) and potentially his associates at entities like SentinelOne. The memo orders federal agencies to immediately revoke Krebs’ clearances and suspend those of his associates pending review. It also mandates an investigation into Krebs’ tenure at CISA, focusing on alleged censorship activities.

The memorandum and fact sheet make several claims about Krebs and CISA that require scrutiny:

The memo characterizes Krebs as a “bad-faith actor” who “weaponized government authority” and engaged in partisan censorship. However, cybersecurity experts widely regarded CISA under Krebs as performing its statutory mission to protect critical infrastructure through information sharing about threats and vulnerabilities.

CISA’s Rumor Control page, cited indirectly in the memo, was created to address both foreign and domestic disinformation affecting election infrastructure security. This was consistent with CISA’s mandate under the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018 to protect critical infrastructure, including election systems.

The claim that CISA “covertly worked to blind the American public” regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop lacks substantiation. CISA’s mission focuses on infrastructure security, not content moderation of news stories.

The characterization that Krebs “falsely and baselessly denied” election fraud contradicts the joint statement by CISA and election officials on November 12, 2020, which was based on evidence from election officials, voting equipment testing laboratories, statisticians, and cybersecurity experts who found no evidence of widespread fraud or technical vulnerabilities affecting election outcomes.

Security clearance revocation is traditionally based on established procedures under Executive Order 12968, which outlines specific criteria for clearance decisions based on national security concerns rather than policy disagreements.

The memo presents Krebs’ activities as censorship while characterizing the current administration’s actions as “ending censorship” — a framing that lacks neutral definition of what constitutes censorship versus legitimate cybersecurity information sharing.

This memorandum represents a significant departure from historical norms regarding security clearance administration, which typically limits revocations to cases involving specific security concerns rather than policy or political disagreements.

RESTORING TRUST IN GOVERNMENT: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum revoking any active security clearance held by Chris Krebs and his associates.

  • The Order directs the head of every federal agency to immediately revoke any active security clearance held by Krebs.
  • The Order also suspends any active security clearance held by individuals at entities associated with Krebs, including SentinelOne, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.
  • Furthermore, the Order calls for a review of Krebs’ activities as a government employee, including his leadership of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
    • The review will include a comprehensive evaluation of all of CISA’s activities over the last 6 years and will identify any instances where Krebs’ or CISA’s conduct appears to be contrary to the administration’s commitment to free speech and ending federal censorship, including whether Krebs’ conduct was contrary to suitability standards for federal employees or involved the unauthorized dissemination of classified information.

ENDING GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP: President Trump is committed to ending government censorship of Americans and believes that those who engage in such conduct should not have access to our nation’s secrets.

  • Krebs, the former head of CISA, is a significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his government authority.

  • Krebs, through CISA:

    • Suppressed conservative viewpoints under the guise of combatting purported misinformation, and recruited and coerced major social media platforms to further its partisan mission.

    • Covertly worked to blind the American public to the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop.

    • Promoted the censorship of election information, including known risks associated with certain voting practices, and falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, including by inappropriately and categorically dismissing widespread election malfeasance and serious vulnerabilities with voting machines.

    • Skewed the bona fide debate about COVID-19 by attempting to discredit widely shared views that ran contrary to CISA’s favored perspective.

ENSURING LOYALTY AND ACCOUNTABILITY: President Trump has made clear that loyalty to the United States must come before personal or partisan agendas, taking decisive action against those who misuse their undeserved influence to deceive the American public.

  • President Trump already revoked the security clearances held by intelligence officials who falsely claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation during the 2020 election.
  • On Day One, President Trump signed an Executive Order to restore freedom of speech, dismantling federal programs that censored dissenting voices under the guise of combating misinformation, ensuring government serves the people—not partisan narratives.
  • That same day, President Trump signed an Executive Order ending the weaponization of the federal government.
  • These decisive actions underscore President Trump’s pledge to ensure a transparent government that is loyal and accountable to the people.