As Donald Trump and his supporters continue to sow doubt about the integrity of the election, Maricopa county supervisor Clint Hickman, a Republican, has issued a statement saying, “It is time to dial back the rhetoric, rumors, and false claims.” “No matter how you voted, this election was administered with integrity, transparency and in accordance with state laws,” Hickman said. Adam Schiff, the Democratic California congressman who chairs the House intelligence committee, has responded to the news, saying that Trump’s move to fire Krebs is “pathetic and predictable from a president who views truth as his enemy”. Twitter quickly flagged the tweets in which Trump announced Krebs’ firing because the repeated many of the baseless election fraud claims the president has been making in recent weeks. Unwilling to accept reality and concede the election, Trump has doubled down on conspiracy theories about election fraud. His administration has blocked the Biden transition team from receiving briefings, but now that Krebs is no longer working in an official capacity - the incoming administration may be able to glean non-classified briefings from the former cybersecurity official. Krebs has said he was “honored to serve”: Several top Democrats have condemned the president’s decision to fire Krebs. On CNN, senator Chris Coons of Delaware said, “Chris Krebs’ federal service is just the latest casualty in President Trump’s four-year-long war on the truth.” Angus King, the Maine senator who is among the candidates who may be appointed Director of National Intelligence in the upcoming Biden administration, said Krebs “is a dedicated public servant who has helped build up new cyber capabilities in the face of swiftly-evolving dangers. By firing him for doing his job, President Trump is harming all Americans.” Donald Trump fires official for pushing back against baseless rumors of election fraud Trump said Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), “has been terminated”. Krebs had indicated he expected to be fired. Last week, his agency released a statement refuting claims of widespread voter fraud. “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history,” the statement read. “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” Trump mentioned the note in his tweet firing Krebs. He also repeated baseless, false claims that dead people had voted and machines changed votes. In Pennsylvania, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani – who has continued his efforts to invalidate election results with baseless claims of voter fraud – has also suffered other setbacks... Here’s more background on the long-shot litigation, from my colleague Sam Levine: Sam Levine Republicans blocked Michigan’s largest county from certifying the results of the 3 November election on Tuesday, an alarming development that leaves wiggle room for Donald Trump in a state he lost by around 146,000 votes. The four-member board of canvassers in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, deadlocked along partisan lines on Tuesday over certifying the election results. Joe Biden carried the county by nearly 323,000 votes. The decision essentially leaves certification up to the Michigan state board of canvassers, according to the Washington Post. The board is split along partisan lines and must approve election results with at least a 3-1 vote, according to Bridge Michigan. There’s some concern that if the board doesn’t act to certify the results, the Michigan state legislature could step in and appoint its own electors. Michigan Republican leaders in the state legislature have downplayed those concerns. A Republican member of the board of canvassers said on Tuesday she would be willing to certify results in parts of the county other than Detroit, which many saw to be an overtly partisan and racist move. Detroit is more than 78% Black. The Trump campaign has focused on ballot counting in Detroit in several of the lawsuits it has filed in the state seeking to block certification of the results. Several judges have dismissed those lawsuits, finding no irregularities. Here’s a view of Chuck Grassley, unmasked, speaking at the Senate yesterday We’re monitoring which other senators might decide to quarantine after interacting with Grassley. Florida senator Rick Scott, who said he was exposed to the virus in his home state, is also quarantining. He has tested negative so far, he said. Grassley was in close contact with senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and potentially others. While the Iowa senator did wear a mask when he wasn’t speaking, other Republican senators didn’t. Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio confronted Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska on the floor about wearing a mask - in part to protect staffers – including a stenographer - sitting below him. “I don’t wear a mask when I’m speaking,” Sullivan responded. “I don’t need your instruction.” Republican Ted Cruz of Texas also seized on the opportunity to attack Brown, calling his colleague “complete ass” and accusing the Ohio senator of “fake virtue”. Senator Grassley tests positive for coronavirus Republican senator Chuck Grassley, 87, of Iowa has tested positive for coronavirus, he announced. Grassley was unable to vote on Judy Shelton’s controversial nomination to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors (she has advocated for a return to the gold standard) because he was quarantining after being exposed to the virus. Before quarantining, Grassley spoke on the Senate floor, without a mask.