Trump says these documents prove his false claims of election fraud. Here’s what they really say

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump released several documents during a meeting. first speech to the nation He said he was exaggerating his allies’ long-debunked claims of mass voter fraud as a weapon of proof.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday night, Trump described shocking revelations such as China’s interference to undermine his unsuccessful 2020 candidacy and a cover-up by the “deep state.” He claimed that “Americans have been blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure.”

But a review by The Associated Press, in a compilation of new declassified reports, investigative files, intelligence analyzes and various cables, found no such confirmation. Many pages are so densely edited that their findings are unclear. Others summarize vulnerabilities and assessments that have been well documented for years. There is no evidence that China or any other foreign entity manipulated the vote in 2020 or any other year.

David Becker, director general of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, who attended the briefing held at the White House before the speech, said, “The White House promised a bomb, but it failed.” Despite what appeared to be a concerted effort by administration officials, “there was absolutely nothing newsworthy here, nothing here that called into question past elections and certainly the 2020 election.”

Here’s a look at what the documents say.

We have data in China. Many

“Beginning with the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China committed what is believed to be the largest election data breach in history, resulting in China illegally seizing 220 million U.S. voter files,” Trump said in a statement Thursday night. he said.

But there is no evidence that China used this information in any way.

It has long been known that China collects vast amounts of data on Americans unrelated to efforts to manipulate votes or change election results. Public versions of voter files are widely available, including on the Internet, and can be bought and sold by campaigns and political parties so they know which door to knock and where to send mail.

China’s efforts to influence the 2020 campaign have already been well documented, and there has been no assessment of direct interference in the election. The records released Thursday night do not refute that conclusion, but they do reveal the domestic intelligence community debating how to characterize Beijing’s efforts and objectives.

The emails show the dissenting view that China is taking steps to “denigrate” Trump. But rather than being hidden, this perspective was already reflected in the intelligence community assessment prepared after the election.

China on Friday He addressed Trump’s claims Stating that it was “unfounded” and a “complete fabrication”, he said that he had never interfered in US elections and had no interest in doing so.

Non-citizens may or may not be more common on voter rolls

In his remarks, Trump announced the release of a new Department of Homeland Security investigation that he said had identified nearly 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections, based on state voter rolls and public records.

The agency found more than a quarter-million noncitizens registered to vote illegally in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada, relying on public records that were often inaccurate or incomplete, the report said. Allegedly, another 28,000 non-citizens were found on voter rolls in 25 states using the new Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system.

But there is no suggestion that any of these people actually voted, which would be a crime.

This data has also not been verified. Reports found The SAVE database is riddled with errors, including outdated information that classifies naturalized citizens as mostly non-citizens. In fact, a federal judge prohibited the use of the database Because of the fear that voters will be mistakenly deleted from the voter rolls.

Studies have found that it is extremely rare for non-citizens to vote. Non-citizens are also allowed to vote in some local elections and can therefore appear on the lists.

Documents detail Russia’s election efforts

Trump has for years criticized the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him win. But the documents shed new light on the country’s ongoing efforts.

A declassified document from 2020 portrays Russia as the country most trying to infiltrate American election systems to defeat Joe Biden. He points out how Russia has worked to amplify allegations that Biden engaged in improper conduct related to Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that employed his son Hunter while he served as vice president; This accusation is frequently repeated by Trump and Republicans.

“Their goal is to defeat the former Vice President and ensure the President’s victory,” the document obtained from the National Intelligence Council reads.

The document stated that both China and Iran wanted Trump to lose. But it also included a table documenting each country’s known efforts. It was only known that Russia had engaged in “targeting, accessing, or manipulating election processes or election-related systems.”

Russia continued to deny that it was interfering in U.S. affairs.

Michigan

in the spotlight

Many of the disclosed documents involve a Michigan case in which an ostensibly pro-Biden polling operation submitted thousands of questionable voter records to a local election official in 2020. The official did not accept the records and warned the authorities.

The documents include heavily redacted notes by at least one FBI agent, but show the agent unsuccessfully pushing for further investigation and charges by 2024. In 2023, Michigan Republicans complained that the state’s Democratic attorney general had not charged anyone.

However, according to one of the records, the case was closed “because the logical investigation and/or evidence was exhausted and the investigation to date has not identified a criminal violation or a priority threat to national security.”

Security vulnerabilities in voting systems

Trump told the nation that the documents contained intelligence that “revealed shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure” that left it vulnerable to “hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference.”

One of the reports included a list of recent violations, mostly by Russia, and called on state and local election officials to step up their defenses to prevent the information from being used to obtain absentee ballots or alter voter rolls. Election officials acknowledge that voting machines also pose risks; so they don’t rely solely on them to ensure the accuracy of the vote. Measures such as physical security, equipment testing, paper ballot backups, and post-election audits help catch machine errors or threats.

But it’s unclear what the administration is doing to facilitate their efforts. Trump earlier this month dismissed members of the bipartisan federal election commission After the group, which distributes federal grants to states, oversees testing of voting systems and maintains the national voter registration form, resisted efforts to require potential voters to document their U.S. citizenship before registering.

There is also Trump cut millions of dollars in federal funding From the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA, which helps state and local election officials keep elections secure and disbanded an FBI task force focused on investigating foreign influence operations, including operations targeting U.S. elections.

The documents repeatedly reference the risks posed by large databases of voter information, including registration databases and election websites, that foreign adversaries could access or manipulate.

But the SAVE system that Trump is pushing states to adopt has been criticized as an illegal, centralized database of voter information that could be another target.

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Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi, Ali Swenson, Katie Vogel and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.