Former DHS official fired by Trump sues Newsmax and Trump campaign lawyer for calling for him to be 'drawn and quartered'

Krebs accuses diGenova of inciting death threats against him

A former government cybersecurity official is suing Newsmax, the Trump campaign, and their attorney Joe diGenova after diGenova said that the official should be "drawn and quartered" and "shot" over his comments that contradicted the president on voter fraud.

Christopher Krebs, who was fired Nov. 17 by President Donald Trump, said that he has received death threats via text, emails and tweets after the incendiary comments from diGenova on Newsmax.

diGenova made the acerbic comments while a guest on "The Howie Carr Show" on Newsmax.

"Anybody who thinks the election went well, like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity, that guy is a class A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot," diGenova said.

Allies and supporters of the president were angered when Krebs said that there was no credible claims of computer fraud in the 2020 election. The president then fired Krebs from his position at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Later, diGenova apologized for the comments and said it was a poor attempt at humor.

"I meant no suggestion of harm or intention to harm Mr. Krebs or his family, and I apologize for any misunderstanding of my intentions," he added.

The defamation lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Maryland, and claims that diGenova knew his comments would lead to "a clear risk of imminent physical harm directed toward Plaintiff and his family."

Krebs is seeking at least $75,000 and for Newsmax to remove the video of diGenova's comments from its website.

Newsmax responded to the lawsuit denying that diGenova had any ties to the network, and said that he was not a paid contributor.

The president specifically tweeted that Krebs' comments denying the election security were the reason he fired him.

"The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud - including dead people voting, Poll Watchers not allowed into polling locations, 'glitches' in the voting machines which changed votes from Trump to Biden, late voting, and many more," the president said in November.

"Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency," he added in a second tweet.

Krebs said later in an interview with Axios that he wanted Republican leaders to step in and defend the results of the election in order to "restore confidence in democracy."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/krebs-digenova-death-threat-election

House approves defense policy bill despite Trump veto threat

The House easily approved the annual defense policy bill Tuesday, defying President Trump’s repeated veto threats.

The bill was approved in a 335-78 vote. That's above the two-thirds vote needed to override a veto, but some Republicans could switch their vote if it comes to overriding the president.

Overall, 140 Republicans voted "yes" and 37 Democrats voted "no" on Tuesday, with Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel (N.Y.) voting present.

The bipartisan approval of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will leave supporters hoping the support is strong enough to dissuade Trump from following through with his veto threat.

But Trump has so far not backed down from the fight as some of his staunchest allies in Congress cheer him on. And even though many Republicans voted for the bill Tuesday, it’s unclear if they would vote against Trump after a veto and hand him the first override of his presidency.

The NDAA, which has become law 59 years in a row, is considered must-pass because it authorizes dozens of special pay and bonuses for service members as well as military construction projects and training programs.

“This bipartisan policy bill has been signed into law for 59 consecutive years. Let’s urge the president to show respect to the work of the bicameral, bipartisan Congress and for the sacrifice of our military,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday ahead of the vote.

Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA over two separate issues.

First, the bill would require the Pentagon to rename within three years Confederate-named military bases and other property and set up a commission to plan how to carry out those changes.

Trump argues that changing the names “desecrates” the bases, but lawmakers in both parties see the change as past due as the military and the nation grapple with racism and the legacy of slavery.

The president is also threatening to veto the bill because it does not include a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law that gives online platforms liability protection for content posted by third parties while allowing them to make good faith content moderation efforts.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/529290-house-approves-defense-policy-bill-despite-trump-veto-threat

Dems Signal Coming Push for Taxpayer-Funded Abortion

Biden reversed opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion during presidential campaign

House Democrats are setting the stage to overturn the longstanding ban on taxpayer-funded abortion in anticipation of a Biden administration.

Democrats denounced as racist the Hyde Amendment, a 1976 prohibition on the use of federal funding for abortions, at a Tuesday subcommittee hearing. President-elect Joe Biden supported the amendment throughout his Senate career before flip-flopping during the 2020 Democratic primary, and Democratic lawmakers intend to hold him to his new position opposing the amendment. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) said any curb on taxpayer funding is "discriminatory."

"Now is the time to empower all women to be able to make deeply personal life decisions without politicians inserting themselves into the doctor's office," DeLauro said.

Rep. Lois Frankel (D., Fla.) described the Hyde Amendment as "one of the best examples" of systemic racism.

"The Supreme Court gave women in Roe v. Wade the constitutional right to safe, legal abortion," Frankel said. "With the Hyde Amendment, that right is really for people who can afford it."

Subcommittee Republicans said forcing taxpayers to pay for abortion would violate their First Amendment and conscience rights. Rep. Tom Cole (R., Okla.) said federal funding of abortion is a matter of moral and religious freedom.

"The Hyde Amendment protects the conscience rights of the great majority of Americans who are opposed to publicly funded abortions for religious, moral, or simply fiscal reasons," Cole said.

Biden used similar rhetoric in the past to defend the Hyde Amendment. He boasted in 1994 that he had voted for the policy more than 50 times because "those of us who are opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for them." He abandoned that position at the start of the 2020 campaign after facing pressure from campaign staffers.

The Hyde Amendment has been shown to reduce the number of abortions. Family Research Council, a pro-life group, released a study that found that the amendment prevented more than 2.4 million abortions. Lawmakers clashed over the racial implications of prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortions. Democratic lawmakers argued that banning federal funding of abortions would adversely impact low-income minority families. Washington congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R.) described the notion that poorer minority parents should end their pregnancies as "outrageous."

"We keep taking this back up to just talking about one person in the equation that's the mother, but you have to acknowledge the personhood of the other person in this equation who pays the ultimate price," Beutler said.

Cole also defended the Hyde Amendment, saying that taxpayer dollars would be better aimed at saving the lives of expectant mothers and children than for abortion.

"Women of color and all women deserve resources such as prenatal care, well-baby care, and more child care options and support to enable them to fully care for their children," Cole said. "We need to be advancing public policies that support women of color and their families, and not policies that end the lives of the unborn."

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/dems-signal-coming-push-for-taxpayer-funded-abortion/