Top US counterintelligence official calls threats against Krebs 'embarrassing'
The top U.S. counterintelligence official tasked with overseeing the security of the 2020 election called out Trump ally Joe diGenova in an interview Wednesday over his recent threat calling for fired CISA chief Chris Krebs to be "shot," describing the attack as "embarrassing" while echoing some of Krebs' recent statements that had described the election as secure overall.
"I think it's wholly inappropriate and just disappointing to me as an American the comments that were made," NCSC director Bill Evanina said during a panel at the Aspen Cyber Summit Wednesday. "As a 32-year government official, it's just baffling to me that you would have someone who was respected once as a U.S. attorney or a judge make those foolish comments."
"Embarrassing would be the right word," Evanina added.

Asked if he was concerned about Americans who believed inaccurate conspiracy theories about what happened in this election, Evanina said he was -- while not referring directly to anything peddled by Trump or his legal team.
"Our elections, as I've said publicly, are the core fundamental basis for which we have the ability to live in an amazing democracy, we have to preserve and protect our elections at all costs," Evanina said. "So the folks who do that, put their lives on the line every day -- metaphorically on the line -- should have the ability to do that with safety and security, not be anguished because one party lost, one party won."
Evanina's comments related to the security of the election are reminiscent of those that landed Krebs in hot water with the president, who later fired him over his statements disputing conspiracies about the integrity of the vote. Trump nominated Evanina for his position as NCSC director in 2018.
-ABC News' Alexander Mallin







