WASHINGTON, D.C. (CSO) — U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking the security clearance of Krebs and cybersecurity giant SentinelOne as retribution for the former CISA director’s defense of the 2020 election. The move holds significant implications for SentinelOne going forward.
In an ominous development for the cybersecurity industry, US President Donald Trump revoked the security clearance of former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Chris Krebs, now chief intelligence and public policy officer at cybersecurity giant SentinelOne. Trump also revoked any active security clearance held by individuals at entities associated with Krebs, including those of Krebs’ SentinelOne colleagues.
Trump revoked Krebs’ security clearance in an executive order, the first direct presidential action against any US cybersecurity company. The EO says the revocation of clearances for SentinelOne workers is pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.
Dan Meyer, national security attorney for law firm Tully Rinckey, paints an unpleasant scenario for SentinelOne. Although security clearances are revoked routinely, Meyer said it’s highly unusual for them to be revoked by presidential executive order. “The fact that you’re doing this by an executive order is odd,” he said.
This adds a layer of complexity to what will likely be a lengthy administrative and legal process facing both Krebs and SentinelOne. “You cannot just revoke the clearance without going through the process, even if you’re the president. The first thing that should happen is there should be a security review, maybe interrogatories, then a statement of reasons, and then you respond to the statement of reasons,” Meyer said. “If you’re a contractor, you can eventually go in front of a judge, have a hearing, and appeal, and the judge makes the final decision on the clearance.”
Retribution for Krebs’ role in vouching for the 2020 election
Chris Krebs, the founding director of CISA who is well-respected among cybersecurity professionals, was fired by Trump in 2020 for vouching for the integrity of the 2020 election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden.
In his order, Trump offers a litany of disjointed allegations against Krebs, whom he calls a “bad faith” actor. He accuses Krebs of denying that the 2020 was rigged, “blinding” the American public about the controversy over Hunter Biden’s laptop, and skewing “the bona fide debate about COVID-19.”
He also calls for a review of Krebs’s role as a government employee, including his leadership of the CISA, and a comprehensive evaluation of “all of CISA’s activities over the last 6 years” to “identify any instances where Krebs’ or CISA’s conduct appears to be contrary to the administration’s commitment to free speech and ending federal censorship.”
In a Fox News video of the EO’s signing appearing on X, Trump again wrongly claimed that the 2020 election was “badly rigged” and called Krebs “a wise guy.”
However, “Despite the accusations of the White House, we have no hard evidence of actual wrongdoing by Krebs from what I can tell,” Dakota S. Rudesill, associate professor at Moritz College of Law and national security simulation director at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University, told CSO.
