US President Donald Trump on Friday reignited the debate over the 2020 presidential election, alleging that China carried out "the largest compromise of election data in history" by acquiring 220 million American voter files.
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He announced the declassification of intelligence documents that he claimed showed Chinese interference in US elections, despite previous assessments by the US intelligence community finding no evidence that Beijing altered the outcome of the 2020 vote.
Speaking in a primetime address from the White House, Trump said his administration was releasing classified material related to the 2020 and 2018 elections, arguing that Americans deserved "fair and honest elections."
"America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed, because no country can be great without fair and honest elections," Trump said.
He alleged that China had compromised millions of US voter records and accused intelligence officials of concealing the information.
"Beginning in 2020, China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files," Trump claimed.
"That information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities, which is exactly what was happening," he said.
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Calling it "an unprecedented election security nightmare," Trump alleged that "those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden," claiming neither he nor Congress had been informed.
He further accused elements within the intelligence community of suppressing information.
"This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare... members of the deep state... worked to actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China's sinister election meddling, covering it up from both the President and the American people," he said.
Trump also claimed the newly released documents showed vulnerabilities in America's election systems.
"Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot-counting systems. They are vulnerable, and they are easily compromised," he said.
Quoting the US intelligence assessment, Trump said, "We judge that US adversaries, including at a minimum Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise US election infrastructure."
