The Trump Administration has been sent an open letter from 40 cybersecurity professionals, academics and public figures, urging the halt of its “political persecution” of Chris Krebs.

Chris Krebs is the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and in April US President Donald Trump had surprised many when he signed an executive order that targetted the former US official who oversaw the cyber defences of America during Trump’s first administration.

Trump’s executive order had targeted Chris Krebs as well as any entities he is associated with. Krebs had served as the first CISA director until he was abruptly fired by Donald Trump in November 2020 after he publicly contradicted Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 Presidential election was subject to massive voter fraud.

Open letter

Now in an open letter, the Trump Administration was urged to “cease its politically motivated investigation” of Christopher Krebs,” and was signed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and dozens hundreds of cybersecurity, election security experts, as well as prominent names from academia, civil society, and the private sector.

The letter stated “we, the undersigned cybersecurity professionals and members of the infosec community, are keenly aware that those in our field play a vital role in protecting our democracy, securing our elections, and building, testing, and safeguarding government infrastructure.”

“It is with this heavy responsibility in mind that we recognise with deep appreciation those who perform the essential work of good-faith security research to safeguard the democratic process. Yet it is exactly for his role in this work that the Trump Administration is attempting to punish and intimidate the former Director of the government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Chris Krebs, with an executive order cancelling the security clearances of all employees at SentinelOne…and ordering the Department of Justice to launch a probe of his work in the White House.”

“We unequivocally condemn the political persecution of Chris Krebs and SentinelOne,” the letter states.

“It is clear that this executive order comes as retribution for Krebs’ role as CISA Director in correcting disinformation alleging fraud in the 2020 Presidential election,” it added.

“By placing Krebs and SentinelOne in the crosshairs, the President is signalling that cybersecurity professionals whose findings do not align with his narrative risk having their businesses and livelihoods subjected to spurious and retaliatory targeting, the same bullying tactic he has recently used against law firms,” the letter states.

“We petition the Trump Administration to immediately:
1. Reinstate the security clearances of SentinelOne employees, and
2. Rescind the order to the Department of Justice investigating Krebs.”

Trump’s vendetta

Trump vendetta against his former CISA head, came after Krebs (a Republican) had declared that the 2020 presidential election (which Democrat Joe Biden had won), was “the most secure in American history.”

For example Krebs told CNN at the time there “is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

US election officials also insisted that the 2020 vote was the “most secure” in US history.

President Trump however refused to concede that he had lost the 2020 election, and to this day Trump continues to make unsubstantiated claims of ‘massive’ voter fraud.

An unhappy Trump tweeted in late 2020 that “effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”

Executive order

And then in April 2025 Trump’s executive order took an extraordinary approach of targetting a specific individual, as well as any entities he was associated with.

In his order, Trump called Krebs a “bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority.”

Trump directed the attorney general, director of national intelligence and “all other relevant agencies” to suspend “any active security clearances held by individuals at entities associated with Krebs, including SentinelOne, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.”

After Trump’s executive order, Chris Krebs announced his resignation “with a heavy heart” as SentinelOne’s chief intelligence and public policy officer.

Krebs had worked at SentinelOne since late 2023, when the company acquired his consulting firm.