Don Jr tests positive, as his father dodges media questions

Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, reportedly admitted to close aides that he thought he would soon be the latest official within the Homeland Security department to be fired by Donald Trump, following a cross-government report that debunked the White House’s claims of election fraud. 

The report, published on 12 November, said there was “no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” in direct contradiction to the president’s claims. 

“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history," it added. “Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalising the result.” 

The president’s termination of Mr Krebs comes as the auditing of election process in a number of states, including tight races such as Georgia, find no evidence of vote tampering or other irregularities. 

A Biden campaign spokesman, Michael Gwin, said on Tuesday night that “Chris Krebs should be commended for his service in protecting our elections, not fired for telling the truth,” following his dismissal by Donald Trump. 

Similar statements were made by Democrats in Congress, with Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, assailing Mr Trump for “retaliating against Director Krebs and other officials who did their duty.” 

"It's pathetic, but sadly predictable that upholding and protecting our democratic processes would be cause for firing," added Mr Schiff. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar, meanwhile, described the cybersecurity director as a “patriot”, in an interview with MSNBC. “He should not have been fired”. 

After he fired the director of the US government’s cybersecurity agency on Tuesday, president Donald Trump went on to claim that “The only thing secure about our 2020 Election was that it was virtually impenetrable by foreign powers”.

The statement, while basesless, came after Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was “terminated” for saying in a report that the 3 November vote was “the most secure in American history”. 

Mr Trump, who has still refused to accept his defeat to Joe Biden, has spent the best part of two weeks claiming that the 2020 election was a “fraud”, without basis - and in contradiction of findings from both federal and state officials. 

He added that “the Trump Administration takes great credit” for securing the election against foreign powers, in an apparent attack on officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. 

In a statement last month, Mr Trump’s director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and FBI director Christopher Wray warned that Iran and Russia had accessed voter registration data in a bid to interfere with the vote. 

You can read that report, here: 

Two weeks after election day, the United States remains divided, according to an opinion poll on Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the race. 

According to the Politico/Morning Consultant survey, some 72 per cent of Democrats said Mr Trump should concede “right away” compared to just 16 per cent of Republicans. 

However, among all registered voters, 46 per cent backed an immediate concession from the president. 

Here’s Stuti Mishra’s report: 

Matthew Travis, the deputy director for the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was also reported to be on his way out, following the president’s dismissal of the agency’s director, Chris Krebs, on Tuesday. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration informed Mr Travis that he would not be chosen to lead the top role at the agency, which last week debunked the president’s claims of election fraud with a report. 

A number of Republican lawmakers have commented on Donald Trump’s firing of the nation’s top cybersecurity director, Chris Krebs, with some avoiding direct criticism of the president. 

Nebraska senator Ben Sasse, a frequent Trump critic, said: “Chris Krebs did a really good job, as state election officials all across the nation will tell you, and he obviously should not be fired”. 

Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher was meanwhile reported to have said that “Chris Krebs did his job and did it extremely well.”

“The country is safer and our elections more secure from foreign interference because of his leadership at CISA”.

and more support for Mr Krebs….

American actor and Trump critic, Mark Hamil, has described the president’s firing of Chris Krebs on Tuesday as the dismissal of an official for "refusing to lie". 

The actor, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series, pointed to Mr Trump’s own admission that Mr Krebs - the nation’s top cybersecurity official -  was fired for debunking claims that the election on 3 November was “fraudulent”.  

Mr Kreb’s retweeted the actor’s post on Tuesday night, writing “In defending democracy, do or do not, there is no try. This is the way”.

Mr Krebs said last week that the  3 November vote was “the most secure in American history”, having worked to protect voting systems and combat misinformation. Mr Trump, however, refuses to accept those findings, or his election defeat.

Following his firing from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Mr Krebs changed his Twitter bio to read: “Used to be the 1st Director CISA. Now I’m going to reintroduce myself to my family, fire up the BGE, watch University of Virginia sports, and ride bikes”. 

Here’s to that…

President-elect Joe Biden is building a West Wing team that one might describe as anti-Trump, writes the Independent’s John T. Bennett. 

Nine picks announced on Tuesday stand in stark contrast to the kinds of individuals the outgoing president put in senior roles as he built his White House team and Cabinet four years ago, in a bid to disrupt Washington politics.

Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi has responded to Donald Trump’s dismissal of Chris Krebs, who was in charge at the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency until Tuesday night.

“Director Krebs is a deeply respected cybersecurity expert who worked diligently to safeguard our elections, support state and local election officials and dispel dangerous misinformation," said the speaker.  

“Yet, instead of rewarding this patriotic service, the President has fired Director Krebs for speaking truth to power and rejecting Trump’s constant campaign of election falsehoods.”

She also condemned Mr Trump’s refusal to concede the election to Joe Biden, and baseless claims of election fraud, as a “dangerous and shameful charade”.

Mr Krebs had been in the president’s firing line after his agency found no evidence to support his false claims of a rigged election against him. 

News that Donald Trump will stay at the White House for Thanksgiving, and not travel to South Florida as with previous years, comes amid reports that the president was suffering from a “bunker mentality” following his election defeat to Joe Biden.

The Trump family were expected to travel to Florida next week, but on Tuesday night,  Melania Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said on Twitter that the first family “will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday at the White House this year”.

Mr Trump, who has so far refused to concede the election, has made only one trip outside the executive mansion since election day, and has had no events on his public schedule for at least 11 days.