On April 9, 2025, Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum titled “Addressing Risks from Chris Krebs and Government Censorship.” The memo claimed that Chris Krebs “is a significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority,” including censoring conservative free speech about the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the memo directed the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to suspend security clearances held by Krebs or any individuals associated with him.
Who is Chris Krebs? Krebs was appointed by President Trump in 2018 as the first director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA protects the U.S. and its critical infrastructure against cyber and physical threats. This includes election security, which Krebs was responsible for. Following the 2020 election which Krebs stated was “the most secure [election] in American history,” Trump famously fired him by tweet. Now, Krebs is back in the spotlight once again, with his career in cybersecurity and safety being threatened. The memo does not present any evidence of wrongdoing but rather recites conspiracy theories and misinformation disguised as censorship and election interference. They suggest Kreb’s is part of a coordinated scheme to suppress conservative voices. This connects to What Is Populism?, by Jan-Werner Müller (2016) who argues that populist leaders rely on the idea that they alone represent “the people.” And conversely, anyone against them is an enemy. Thus populists “behave like victims.” We see this with Trump who is pretending to be a victim, while Krebs was simply doing his job.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Trump has issued a similar memorandum on Miles Taylor, a staff assistant at the Department of Homeland Security during the first Trump Administration. Taylor, who anonymously published a critique of Trump’s leadership in 2018 and soon after revealed himself, was publicly demonized by the right. However, now Donald Trump is using his powers as the president to single out political enemies. This is a dangerous step away from democracy. As Steven Levistky and Daniel Ziblatt argue in How Democracies Die (2018), democracies often do not collapse but erode gradually. One particular red flag they identify is using state power to target opponents, which is exactly what Trump is doing with Krebs and Taylor by stifling dissent and criminalizing free speech – ironically claiming to be doing so in defense of free speech. By doing so, Trump can cloak his actions as legal while undermining the very principles of democracy the U.S. is built on – free speech, dissent, and the rule of law.
If these actions go unchallenged, the message is clear: politically loyalty is more important than public service, and any action “out of line” will cost you your career, and even safety. This is about normalizing vengeance and retribution as a form of governance and has broader implications. Law firms and universities including Harvard have been under assault by the Trump administration as well. Again, Trump is showing no signs of slowing down attacks on enemies, in this case, law firms that represented election defendants. They are also demanding Harvard give in to demands about hiring and teaching practices. Fortunately, Harvard has decided to fight back, stating they would refuse to give in. While the situation may feel dire, it’s important to recognize that individuals and institutions can still fight back, as Harvard is doing. This moment is a crucial tipping point, not just for institutions like Harvard, but for our willingness to defend democracy. The future depends on whether we stand by those who speak the truth, even when it’s dangerous to do so.
Bibliography
60 Minutes. 2020. “Chris Krebs to 60 Minutes: 2020 Election Was Secure.” YouTube. November 29, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOTUkWfd1w8.
“Addressing Risks from Chris Krebs and Government Censorship.” 2025. The White House. April 9, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/addressing-risks-from-chris-krebs-and-government-censorship/.
“Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Risks from Chris Krebs and Government Censorship.” 2025. The White House. April 9, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-addresses-risks-from-chris-krebs-and-government-censorship/.
Levitsky, Steven & Daniel Ziblatt. 2018. How Democracies Die. New York: Crown. Chapter 1.
Mu ̈ller, Jan-Werner. 2016. What Is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 75-104.
Zirin, James D. 2025. “Trump Literally Wants These 2 Men Arrested for Criticizing Him.” The Hill. April 14, 2025. https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5246524-trump-literally-wants-these-two-men-arrested-for-criticizing-him/.
Hello Michael. Your post was really interesting I had no idea that the CISA even existed. It also made me think about how scary it is that someone like Chris Krebs could face threats just for telling the truth. Reflecting on both your post and mine helped me understand how those individual attacks are part of a larger pattern that undermines trust in our entire electoral system. It made me wonder: how do we even begin to rebuild public confidence when so many people have been convinced the system is rigged?