Declassified Docs Expose Trump’s Made-Up Election Fraud Claims

President Trump’s wild claims of election fraud made in a speech to the nation Thursday night contradict the findings from the declassified documents his administration released.

In his 27-minute speech, Trump complained that the 2020 election was “rigged,” and accused China of stealing and hacking into voting data to prevent his victory, touting the newly declassified documents as evidence. Those documents didn’t support the claims he was making.

Much of the information in the more than 270 pages released presented information already known from 2020 and 2021, with the new details nowhere near earth-shattering. For example, China looked at ways to affect U.S. public opinion, downloading public voter rolls in multiple states (which is already easy to download or purchase). But that’s been known for years, and there was no proof China messed with any ballots or voting machines.

Another document from the Department of Homeland Security declared that over 250,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in Pennsylvania, Nevada, California, and New Jersey, but did not include any supporting evidence. Officials in those states also pushed back against the claims.

A declassified 2021 U.S. intelligence report also contradicts Trump’s claim of foreign actors altering election results. That document found no proof that any overseas actor tried to or succeeded in changing “any technical aspect” of the 2020 presidential election, including ballots, voter registrations, results, or the counting process.

Trump cited two CIA documents to back up his claim of China’s election meddling, and posted them to the White House website. But again those documents don’t support his words, and in some cases say the opposite. One document, for example, said that Russia, China, Iran, and other countries were capable of interfering with voting and stealing sensitive information, but didn’t say that they actually engaged in those actions.

Trump only mentioned Russia in passing during his speech, but the declassified documents highlight Russian interference. The same document said that China wanted Trump to lose and tried to shift public opinion and also warned that Russia was boosting the president’s campaign. Russia also was singled out as the sole country trying to interfere in American election processes.

Russia also tried to amplify corruption stories about Hunter Biden and undermine faith in mail-in voting, much like Trump, the documents reveal.

What was the purpose of Trump’s speech? Much of the information presented was already known, and his comments about China aren’t even backed up by the evidence the White House itself provided. As recently as May, Trump praised China in a visit to the country, saying that the two countries would have a “fantastic future together.” It seems as though the president just wanted to undermine confidence in advance of elections that are forecasted to go badly for him. ...