President Donald Trump signed executive orders Wednesday targeting former Department of Homeland Security officials Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor, as well as law firm Susman Godfrey.
The orders revoked security clearances for the officials who worked under DHS during Trump’s first term. The president also recommended Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem investigate Krebs and Taylor’s actions during their service to determine whether they engaged in the “unauthorized dissemination of classified information.”
Trump also hit Susman Godfrey with many of the same sanctions he has put on other law firms he has accused of “weaponizing the justice system.” Some firms have negotiated to avoid punishment, while others have retaliated by suing the Trump administration.
The Wednesday orders follow a long list of opponents from which Trump pulled security clearances, including former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Rep. Liz Cheney, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, among others.
Krebs was a cybersecurity official who oversaw the 2020 election. When Krebs “falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen,” as the executive order claims, he was fired from his post. Krebs went on to work for cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, which also lost its security clearance per the order.
Taylor wrote a then-anonymous opinion editorial for the New York Times in 2018, claiming he was “a Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” At the time, he was serving as the DHS chief of staff. A year later, he anonymously published a book titled A Warning, which further detailed the Trump administration from his perspective. In 2020, Taylor identified himself as the author and was accused by the president of “possibly violating the Espionage Act.”
Susman Godfrey represented Dominion Voting Systems in its lawsuit against Fox News over the outlet’s alleged misinformation about the 2020 election. The two sides settled for $787.5 million.
In an apparent response to the executive order, Krebs reposted a statement from November 2020 saying, “Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow. #Protect2020.”
“I said this would happen,” Taylor wrote on X. “Dissent isn’t unlawful. It certainly isn’t treasonous. America is headed down a dark path. Never has a man so inelegantly proved another man’s point.”
JUDGES PAUSE TRUMP ORDER PUNISHING LAW FIRMS LINKED TO MUELLER INVESTIGATION
Trump has revoked security clearances for several other law firms that he accused of “weaponizing the justice system.” As a result, law firms Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom all struck deals with the administration to avoid losing their clearances.
Other law firms have sued the administration, which prompted a pair of judges to pause Trump’s orders against Jenner & Block, Perkins Coie, and WilmerHale. Employees from these firms were involved in the Mueller investigation, which centered on Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia.
