Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,
The heads of four U.S. intelligence and national security agencies have backed key elements of President Donald Trump’s claim that China engaged in election interference by targeting American voter-registration data.
A fact sheet released July 30 by the White House Government Transparency Task Force says China and its proxies bought, stole, or hacked voter data belonging to as many as 220 million Americans, including some information that was not publicly available.
The fact sheet pairs that finding with the intelligence community’s official definition of election interference, which includes a foreign power’s targeting of voter data.
It notes that, for a foreign country’s actions to amount to “election interference,” they do not have to change the actual results.
“That definition includes a foreign power’s targeting of voter registration infrastructure or data,” the task force states, citing declassified documents produced by the U.S. intelligence community.
The fact sheet was approved by the heads of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the White House.
Representatives from those agencies—as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation—also coordinated with the White House before Trump’s July 16 address and “approved the factual statements” drawn from intelligence documents used in the speech, the task force states.
Election Interference Defined
In his speech, Trump said China has long been meddling in U.S. elections, including that it was “working to influence” the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which President Joe Biden was ultimately declared the winner.
Trump did not explicitly claim that China managed to change the 2020 result, and neither did the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies.
The spy chiefs did say in the fact sheet that voter-registration data is itself part of election infrastructure and could be manipulated in ways that affect election results, for instance by preventing groups of voters from casting their ballots.
“Adversaries could alter data to potentially prevent individual voters or groups of voters from voting, causing delays on election day or forcing voters to use provisional ballots,” the task force states, citing intelligence community documents.
A voter walks to a polling place in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 28, 2026. Nam Y. Huh/AP
“Adversaries could also use the registration data which in some cases is also available publicly or for purchase—to tailor other interference or influence efforts,” it adds.
Election interference “is a subset of election influence targeted at the technical aspects of the election, including voter registration, casting and counting of ballots, and reporting of results,” according to the task force.
The release of the fact sheet marks the clearest institutional backing yet for central parts of Trump’s allegations, which were challenged by some Democrats who cited an earlier intelligence assessment that China did not interfere in the 2020 election.
Trump Orders Investigation
During his July 16 address, Trump described China’s acquisition of the voter data as “the largest compromise of election data in history” and an “unprecedented election security nightmare.”
Trump said U.S. intelligence had found that “China was working to influence the results of the U.S. midterm elections, and later the results of the 2020 presidential election itself.”
He also said U.S. intelligence agencies began learning in 2020 that China had bought, stolen, or hacked tens of millions of voter records across 18 states but that some officials withheld or downplayed the information.
Trump directed the Department of Justice, CIA, FBI, and ODNI to investigate why the intelligence was withheld and, where appropriate, to seek criminal charges.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused Trump of using the disclosures to influence the approaching midterm elections. Warner cited the intelligence community’s previous assessment that China did not attempt to interfere in the 2020 election.
“China is a serious strategic competitor, and it absolutely seeks to advance its interests at America’s expense,” Warner said.
“The Intelligence Community … concluded that China considered—but ultimately did not deploy—an influence campaign intended to affect the outcome of the 2020 election, and that no foreign government altered vote totals, hacked voting machines, or compromised the integrity of our election infrastructure,” he added.
Trump, in his speech, called the U.S. election system “so broken and so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it.”
“It is not defensible,” Trump said.
The president also said that many previously classified documents spanning from January 2020 to June 2026 that support his claims would be declassified and released to the public.
“This is a cyber threat aimed at the very heart of our democracy,” he said.
