Trump alleges vast conspiracy to commit and cover up election fraud voter files

President Trump used his Thursday night prime-time address to accuse U.S. intelligence agencies of covering up alleged Chinese efforts targeting the 2020 election.

Why it matters: Trump is reopening a politically charged debate over China's role in the 2020 election while directly challenging U.S. intelligence assessments that concluded Beijing did not try to influence the election's outcome.

Driving the news: During his address from the White House, Trump said the White House would release evidence alleging that "over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle," Trump said.

• "Beijing carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files."
• "Raw intelligence obtained by the FBI in 2020, yet buried by rogue bureaucrats, stated that China's activities even included an attempt to manufacture illegal ballots for Joe Biden," Trump said.

"Documents show that during this period, dozens of significant CIA and NSA reports about China's election targeting were kept out of the presidential briefing. These were briefings I would get almost every day," he added.

• "Everything was kept out that was of importance. One email among intelligence analysts admitted that they had quote deliberately massaged the presidential daily briefing to withhold information regarding Chinese activities related to the election," Trump said.
• "Another official inside the FBI wrote that she was running quote a shadow government unquote to keep intelligence about China's election meddling from becoming known."

Zoom out: Trump has taken several steps to weaken the U.S. government's ability to detect and address foreign efforts to influence elections.

• He imposed dramatic cuts to CISA — cutting about 1,100 employees — and ordered it to stop its election security programs, which provided guidance to states and localities.
• Trump also dismantled the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission just within the last few days.

Between the lines: During both Trump's first term and former President Biden's administration, U.S. officials warned about Chinese cyber operations and influence campaigns targeting the U.S., even as intelligence agencies concluded those activities fell short of an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 election.

• However, Trump's allegations go beyond the public conclusions reached by the intelligence community after the 2020 election.
• They also open a new front in Trump's longstanding criticism of U.S. intelligence agencies, which he says concealed information from him during his first term.

What we know: U.S. intelligence agencies have long assessed that China sought to expand its global influence through cyber operations and influence campaigns but did not assess that Beijing attempted to sway the outcome.

• In a March 2021 National Intelligence Council assessment, the intelligence community concluded with "high confidence" that Beijing did not attempt to influence the election's outcome because Chinese officials viewed neither a Trump nor Biden win as sufficiently advantageous to justify the risks of being caught meddling.
• The assessment also concluded that China did not interfere with election infrastructure, including vote-counting systems — a finding that is distinct from allegations involving voter data.