‘Pathetic’: Outrage erupts after Trump admin steps up retaliation against ex-GOP official
Hamza Adam 
Former Trump administration cybersecurity official Chris Krebs said his removal from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Global Entry program is clearly “another act of retribution from the administration,” according to a new CNN report.
Krebs, who provoked President Donald Trump’s anger when he publicly contradicted the MAGA leader’s repeated assertions that the 2020 election was stolen, told CNN he was notified Wednesday afternoon that his Trusted Traveler Program status had been revoked.
The latest development in Trump’s campaign against Krebs came weeks after Trump took the unprecedented step of ordering his Justice Department to investigate Krebs and a second former administration official – and stripped them of their security clearances.
The new move on Wednesday sparked a wave of backlash from political observers who sounded off over social media Wednesday night.
“Pathetic wanna be thugs,” The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wrote on X.
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“I’m sure that house Republicans will immediately be holding hearings on the weaponization of government, of course,” attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council told his X followers. “After all, this might be the single most obvious example of that we’ve seen in generations. I bet they’re all drafting press releases right now, ready to go!”
Political observer Linda Watt wrote in an X post: “Well, they’re investigating Chris Krebs for the audacity of stating that the 2020 elections were safe and valid.”
“A key First Amendment battle could break out over whether Chris Krebs has to wait in a monstrously long line whenever he reenters the country,” Washington Post media reporter Scott Nover told his followers on X.