Thread by @Joseph_Marks_

“While elections are sometimes messy this was a secure election, off that I have no doubt,” @C_C_Krebs says at #HSGAC hearing on the 2020 contest, which has otherwise mostly been a rehash of debunked fraud claims.

Some of the clearest details yet from Krebs re. CISA's rumor control page. Says his staff was approached by the administration about some entries but he was never approached directly. He told staff any requests needed to come directly to him.

Krebs is going into great detail debunking a specific phony claim about Michigan voting machines -- “There is no permission to bracket-zero-bracket” -- demonstrating how complicated it can be to call BS and how easy it is for conspiracy theorists to ignore such explanations.

If one phrase goes viral from this hearing, I hope it's @C_C_Krebs's “there is no permission to bracket-zero-bracket." And, as @SenatorCarper would say "that's the straight skinny."

Some of the fraud claims at the HSGAC hearing focus on lack of transparency - which doesn't remotely prove fraud but has been a genuine concern of election security experts. Here's some background:
washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…

Since '17, election security advocates (aided largely by Dems at the federal level) have pushed a series of reforms to make elections more auditable and transparent (mostly opposed by Republicans in Congress who claimed it was federal overreach).

What they settled on was about $1 billion in funding with no strings attached (HSGAC chair @SenRonJohnson mostly opposed that money for the record) about 1/3 of what Dems sought.

That went primarily to paper ballots, which is the best fix to ensure integrity. If GOP is on the level about seeking transparency and auditability they could almost certainly reach a deal with Dems to make sure that happens by 2022 or 2024.

.@senrobportman is sounding the most bipartisan note yet in a highly partisan hearing, pushing for a bipartisan commission to look at best practices before the next midterm. Says he's eager to work with Dems on such a deal. @davidalanlevine has floated such a plan.

A recurring argument from GOP Sens. Johnson, Lankford, Hawley and others is that public doubt about the election's integrity necessitates more serious investigation -- as opposed to more public release of facts to defang phony claims that have whipped up doubts.

.@SenatorLankford specifically argued it was doubts about the integrity of the '16 contest that prompted a 4-year focus on election security. However, my understanding is that focus was prompted by an IC conclusion, upheld by SSCI, that Russia did indeed interfere in '16.

Also, while there were public doubts about the legitimacy of Trump's victory, the IC concluded quickly there's no evidence Russia changed any votes. So even more apples to oranges.

.@C_C_Krebs described an anxious, "paranoid" four years trying to think through everything foreign adversaries might do to undermine the election, says it came down to "perception hacks" about the election's legitimacy and promotes CISA rumor control.

Krebs once again pushed a similar rumor control model to knock back phony claims about the covid vaccine. An interesting counterpoint to this from CISA acting director Wales who said CISA/ gov might not be seen as a trusted party to run such a page.

Krebs voices concern that threats against election workers could dissuade people from working elections in the future. Johnson says no one in either party supports such threats. Background: washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/…

As we approach the end of this hearing, Sen. Carper is laying down some straight skinny about Delaware geography, the history of the judiciary, nylon manufacturing and covid vaccine distribution.

FWIW, Carper ended with one of the hearing's great lines with a koan-like simplicity. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Of course, immediately afterward, Carper and Johnson began disagreeing about what the "main thing" is.