The chief tech officer at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is stepping down after taking the job to help the party become cyber-smart after hacks that resulted in embarrassing email leaks, a DNC official confirmed Thursday.
Raffi Krikorian, 40, worked as an executive at Twitter and Uber before signing on at the DNC. He will depart after two years on the job to join Emerson Collective, a social justice organization founded by Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs, reported BuzzFeed News.
Krikorian made improvements at the DNC by establishing regular simulated phishing drills, encouraging state parties to keep security practices up-to-date and showing DNC Chair Tom Perez how to use messaging encryption app Signal, according to BuzzFeed News. (RELATED: It’s Official: DNC To Host Annual Convention In A Place Hillary Passed Over)
“He leaves the DNC better equipped than ever to take on Donald Trump in 2020,” Perez said in a statement.
Former chairperson of the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman Schultz listens to the biographical film presentation of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention at Wells Fargo Center on July 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Krikorian arrived a year after the ouster of ex-DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who seemed to downplay the 2016 hacking incident at first, according to her successor Donna Brazile. (RELATED: Now That The DNC’s Over, Let’s Look At The Most Absurd Elements Of Their Hacked Email Leak)
The roughly 20,000 leaked emails that were released by hacking group called Guccifer 2.0 proved to be both embarrassing and divisive for the Democrats. DNC staffers discussed how to undermine Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as a candidate in the 2016 Democratic primary
Krikorian had more than doubled the size of the DNC’s technology department since 2017, reported BuzzFeed News. He will be succeeded, at least in an acting capacity, by his deputy, Lindsey Schuh Cortes.
News of Krikorian’s departure broke just days after the DNC confirmed Milwaukee will host the 2019 Democratic National Convention.
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