克里斯·克雷布斯，美国国土安全部网络安全机构前负责人，被总统解雇唐纳德·特朗普在声明没有证据表明选举欺诈-定于周三在共和党控制的参议院委员会作证，该委员会声称需要继续调查关于2020年选举的毫无根据的指控。

参议院国土安全和政府事务主席罗恩·约翰逊(Ron Johnson)上周宣布了“审查2020年选举中的违规行为”的听证会，这立即引起了民主党人的反弹，他们认为举行一个质疑选举结果的委员会将损害民主。

听证会将在参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)首次公开表示乔·拜登(Joe Biden)是当选总统一天后举行，许多共和党人支持他。

乔纳森·恩斯特/路透社，档案

国土安全部副部长克里斯·克雷布斯在阿灵顿对记者发表讲话

在特朗普通过推特解雇他后，克雷布斯引起了公众的注意，因为他声称11月的选举是“美国历史上最安全的选举”，委员会的首席民主党人、密歇根州参议员加里·彼得斯(Gary Peters)传唤他作证。

彼得斯在一份声明中说:“我的许多同事选择帮助传播总统关于2020年选举结果的谎言和虚假陈述，对此我感到震惊。”这不仅仅是另一个党派政治问题——重复这些谎言侵蚀了公众对这次公平自由选举的信任，为削弱公众对未来选举的信任奠定了基础，助长了我们对手的气焰，破坏了我们的民主和权力的和平过渡。"

参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)上周呼吁约翰逊和参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)取消委员会会议，理由是担心质疑选举结果会损害民主。

舒默上周表示:“利用参议院委员会传播关于我们自己选举的错误信息，这是不可想象的。”

彭博通过盖蒂图像，文件

2020年9月18日，肯·斯塔尔在华盛顿举行的美国企业研究所活动上发言。

约翰逊站在听证会一边，呼吁著名律师、前特别顾问肯·斯塔尔(Ken Starr)周三加入该小组。斯塔尔曾在1月份的弹劾听证会上为特朗普辩护。

约翰逊在安排上周听证会的声明中表示，尽管他认识到与选举完整性有关的问题正在法庭上提出，但许多美国人不相信2020年的选举结果是“合法的”。

约翰逊写道:“对我们的国家来说，这不是一种可持续的状态。”。"解决怀疑的唯一方法是完全透明和公众意识。"

没有证据表明选民普遍存在欺诈行为。特朗普的法律团队已经向法院提出了数十项法律挑战，但迄今为止没有一项成功。

自从选举团认证拜登获胜以来，许多共和党人已经公开承认拜登获胜。据报道，就连约翰逊本人也在周二接受威斯康辛州当地记者采访时承认，选举几乎已经尘埃落定。

当被问及选举是否合法时，约翰逊说“是”，据当地媒体报道。约翰逊声称有违规行为，但没有什么会推翻选举结果。

至少有一名共和党委员会成员表示他不会出席听证会:犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼。

“我不会去的，”罗姆尼周二在美国有线电视新闻网上说。“我觉得现阶段没什么成效。”.

Fired election security official to testify as Senate GOP pursues alleged 'irregularities'

Chris Krebs, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency -- fired by PresidentDonald Trumpafter stating there was no evidence ofelectionfraud -- is scheduled to testify Wednesday before a GOP-controlled Senate committee claiming it needs to keep investigating unfounded claims about the 2020 election.

The hearing "Examining Irregularities in the 2020 Election" was announced by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Ron Johnson last week and immediately drew blowback from Democrats who argued that holding a committee challenging the election results would be damaging to democracy.

The hearing will come just one day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly stated for the first time that Joe Biden is the president-elect, with many Republicans falling in line behind him.

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Krebs, who came to public attention after Trump fired him via tweet for claiming that the November election was the "most secure in American history," was called as a witness by the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.

"I am appalled by many of my colleagues’ choice to help spread the President’s lies and false narratives about the outcome of the 2020 election," Peters said in a statement. "This isn’t simply another partisan political issue – repeating these falsehoods erodes the public’s trust in this fair and free election, lays the groundwork to weaken the public’s trust in future elections, emboldens our adversaries, and undermines our democracy and the peaceful transition of power."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who called on Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel the committee meeting last week, citing concerns that questioning the election outcome would be damaging to democracy.

"To use a senate committee to spread misinformation about our own elections, that is beyond the pale," Schumer said last week.

Johnson is standing by his hearing, calling famed lawyer and former special counsel Ken Starr, who defended Trump during the impeachment hearing in January, to join the panel on Wednesday.

In a statement scheduling the hearing last week, Johnson said that while he recognizes that issues related to the integrity of the election are being raised in court, many Americans do not trust that the 2020 election results were "legitimate".

"That is not a sustainable state of affairs for our country," Johnson wrote. "The only way to resolve suspicions is with full transparency and public awareness."

No evidence of widespread voter fraud has been identified. The Trump legal team has taken dozen of legal challenges to court, none of which have so far been successful.

In the time since the Electoral College certified Biden's wins, many Republicans have publicly acknowledged Biden's win. Even Johnson himself reportedly conceded Tuesday that the election is all but settled during an interview with a local Wisconsin reporter.

Johnson said "yes" when asked if the election was legitimate,according to the local outlet. Johnson contended that there were irregularities but nothing that would overturn the election results.

At least one committee Republican has said he will not attend the hearing: Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.

"I’m not going to go to that," Romney said on CNN Tuesday. "I don’t think it’s productive at this stage."