Trump signs orders punishing ex-officials who were critical of him
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders against two former top officials from his first term and a law firm that represented Dominion Voting Systems.
The move is seen as part of Trump's ongoing war against those who have opposed or contradicted him and seeks to alter the narrative around his 2020 election loss.
The actions came the same day he directed the Justice Department to investigate both former officials.
Orders
Trump's executive orders against former officials
One of the orders asks the Attorney General and the Homeland Security Secretary to probe Christopher Krebs, former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director, and Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.
Krebs oversaw the securing of the 2020 presidential election, while Taylor anonymously wrote a scathing op-ed attacking Trump for The New York Times in 2018.
Krebs was fired in November 2020 after he rejected Trump's baseless allegations of election fraud.
White House
'I think he's guilty of treason'
The president did not name any alleged misconduct by the men that needed department probes.
Trump, however, made clear from the White House that he think he knows what the outcomes should be.
"I think what he did, and he wrote a book, 'Anonymous,' said all sorts of lies, bad things- and I think it's, I think it's like a traitor, like, it's like spying,..I think he's guilty of treason, but we'll find out," Trump said, without naming Taylor.
Disgrace
Trump's criticism of the former officials
Trump called Krebs "a disgrace" for saying the election was "not rigged and stolen" and for ignoring what Trump said were "serious vulnerabilities with voting machines."
While Taylor was accused in the orders of "illegally" making public classified conversations and branded potentially treasonous—a charge Trump made without proof.
The orders also stripped both men of security clearances, as well as their associates and organizations.
Law firm targeted
Trump's executive order against Susman Godfrey
The third executive order goes after Susman Godfrey, a Houston-based law firm that represented Dominion Voting Systems in its 2023 defamation settlement with Fox News.
The order accuses the firm of "weaponizing the American legal system" and undermining election integrity, criticizing its diversity programs and representation of clients.
Rebuking the accusation, the firm said, "This is plainly unconstitutional," vowing to fight back.