Trump revives 2020 China election claims in White House address
What's new: He released heavily redacted intelligence files, even as prior US assessments found China did not interfere.
President Donald Trump used a White House address to accuse China of meddling in the 2020 US election and to warn of vulnerabilities in American voting systems ahead of the midterms. Trump said he had declassified hundreds of intelligence documents and alleged that 220 million voter files, including data from 18 states, were bought, stolen or hacked by China. He did not present evidence that the information changed vote counts or voting systems. The claims cut against a 2021 National Intelligence Council assessment that said with high confidence China did not interfere in the election. China rejected the accusations, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian calling them fabricated. Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, accused Trump of trying to undermine confidence in November's elections.