Trump Says China Stole Data on 220 Million US Voters, Tried to Make Illegal Ballots for Biden

President Donald Trump said on July 16 that China stole data on 220 million US voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election and tried to produce illegal ballots for then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden. The claims stand to thrust election security back into the center of US politics ahead of the November midterm elections.

Speaking in a national address from the White House East Room, Trump said China carried out what he called the largest election-data breach in history over several years beginning in the 2020 election cycle. He said China illegally obtained 220 million US voter files. Trump also said intelligence material showed China assigned a separate data-exploitation unit to the effort.

He also claimed information obtained by the FBI in 2020 but buried by bureaucrats showed that China’s activities included an attempt to produce illegal ballots for Biden. Trump said he had also released related reports from the CIA and other agencies that, he said, showed China tried to influence the outcomes of the 2018 US midterm elections and the 2020 presidential election while carrying out anti-Trump activity targeting US businesspeople and journalists.

Trump said dozens of CIA and National Security Agency reports on Chinese election interference were excluded from the President’s Daily Brief. He claimed the information was not delivered to the president, Congress or the American public. Trump said he had asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and the CIA to investigate how and why the information was concealed, fire those involved in the cover-up and pursue criminal charges where appropriate.

Trump also said he would release an intelligence assessment saying US electronic voting and vote-counting systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks by foreign powers including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. He said hostile states and non-state actors have the capability to breach US election infrastructure and described the threat as a cyber risk aimed at the heart of democracy.

Trump’s renewed focus on election fraud appears tied to the stalled progress of his proposed Save America Act ahead of the November midterms. He said Congress must pass the bill to address what he called an election-security crisis. Trump also urged Americans to call leaders in both the House and Senate on July 17 and demand immediate passage.

The bill would revise election law by requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote, mandating photo identification before voting and restricting mail-in voting. Trump says the measure is intended to prevent election fraud. Critics say it could reduce turnout and create an electoral environment more favorable to Republicans.

Kang Kyung-ju, Hankyung.com reporter, qurasoha@hankyung.com