Krebs files lawsuit against Trump attorney who said he should be shot

The former head of U.S. cybersecurity, Christopher Krebs, on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Trump campaign lawyer who suggested that he should be “shot.”

The suit accuses attorney Joe diGenova and the Trump campaign of defamation and inflicting emotional distress, The New York Times reported. He alleges that he received death threats in tweets and emails, which forced him and his family to leave their home.

The lawsuit comes one week after Krebs said he was looking at “legal opportunities” over diGenova’s comments.

The attorney suggested that Krebs should be “taken out at dawn and shot” during an interview on “The Howie Carr Show.”

DiGenova has since claimed the comment was “in jest,” and told The Washington Post last week that he meant it as a joke.

The suit filed on Tuesday alleges that the president, his reelection team and Newsmax have been engaging in “a calculated and pernicious conspiracy” to defame Krebs and others in the Republican Party who have pushed back against the president’s false claims of voter fraud, according to the Times.

Krebs, along with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), released a statement after the election with other election officials that determined the 2020 election had been the most secure in U.S. history.

Following the statement, reports surfaced that Krebs anticipated being terminated from his post. And several days later, he was fired by Trump and the president took to Twitter to allege that Krebs’s statement on election security was “inaccurate.”

Krebs has stood by his assertion in interviews and statements since.

The suit argues that defendants “have a symbiotic relationship,” according to the newspaper. The filing further alleges that Newsmax amplified the campaign’s attacks on the election process, which in turn “pleases viewers, prompts endorsements from President Trump, increases ratings, supports the political goals of the campaign, and helps raise more money from duped supporters.”

The suit states that Trump has hit Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) for not agreeing to help overturn election results in those states.

It also states that Trump and his legal team have been trying to persuade GOP leaders in states like Pennsylvania to “ignore certified election results” and have state lawmakers appoint delegates to the Electoral College.

Krebs is seeking monetary damages, and is asking for the video of the Trump campaign lawyer to be removed.

Newsmax argued in a statement to The Hill that “claims made by Mr. Krebs in his suit of a ‘conspiracy’ and defamation against him are a threat to free speech and his legal action endangers all media organizations that seek an open discourse of ideas and news.” 

Newsmax added that diGenova “has appeared on Newsmax since then on two occasions stating he made the comment ‘facetiously’ and apologized.” The network noted that diGenova is not a paid contributor to Newsmax, adding that it has “no official ties”  to him.

The Trump campaign did not respond to request for comment from The Hill. 

Updated: 6:30 p.m.