The former Homeland Security Department cybersecurity chief who was fired by President Trump is suing the president’s campaign and one of its lawyers.
Chris Krebs, who was fired last month after asserting there was no election fraud, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Montgomery County, Maryland, Circuit Court, alleging defamation and the infliction of emotional distress about a week after campaign lawyer Joe diGenova said in a Newsmax interview that he should be “drawn and quartered, taken out at dawn, and shot.” DiGenova has since claimed he was being sarcastic.
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“Newsmax, the campaign, and DiGenova have a symbiotic relationship,” reads the lawsuit, first reported by the New York Times. “Newsmax disseminates and amplifies the campaign’s and DiGenova’s attacks on perceived political threats and allegations of election stealing, which pleases viewers, prompts endorsements from President Trump, increases ratings, supports the political goals of the campaign, and helps raise more money from duped supporters.”
In the suit, which seeks monetary damages and the removal of the video from Newsmax archives, Krebs claims he has received death threats and that he and his family have been forced to leave their home for their own safety. It also claims that the president, his campaign, and Newsmax itself have been engaging in “a calculated and pernicious conspiracy” to defame Republicans who have stood up against their pursuit to overturn the election.
DiGenova told the Washington Examiner that he meant no harm to Krebs. “For anyone listening to the Howie Carr Show, it was obvious that my remarks were sarcastic and made in jest. I, of course, wish Mr. Krebs no harm. This was hyperbole during political discourse,” he said.
The Trump campaign did not respond to an immediate request for comment on the lawsuit. DiGenova declined to comment.
