Trump declassified election files, reviving 2020 fraud claims
What's new: The documents cited China, Venezuela and noncitizen voting, but prior intelligence and studies undercut key allegations.
President Donald Trump declassified intelligence documents on Thursday that he said showed fraud and foreign interference in U.S. elections, reviving his long-running false claims about the 2020 vote. The materials focused on alleged Chinese efforts to help Democrats, Venezuelan capabilities to manipulate electronic voting and claims that large numbers of noncitizens are registered to vote.
But earlier intelligence findings and independent reviews conflict with key parts of that case. A 2021 U.S. assessment found China considered influence operations in 2020 but decided against trying to change the outcome. CIA reporting cited by Trump described Venezuelan vote-manipulation capabilities without evidence they were used in the United States. Trump has used such allegations to push the SAVE America Act, a voter ID measure that has cleared the House but lacks enough support in the Senate.