Donald Trump releases declassified files alleging Chinese interference in US elections and voter data

US President Donald Trump has ordered the release of a large set of declassified intelligence and law enforcement documents that he says reveal alleged Chinese efforts to obtain American voter data exploit weaknesses in the US election system and influence the countrys political landscapeIn a nationally televised address on Thursday night Trump described the disclosures as evidence of serious vulnerabilities in the countrys election infrastructure and called for investigations into why the intelligence was allegedly withheld during his first termldquoTonight Irsquom announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructurerdquo Trump said in a nationally televised address on Thursday nightDocuments allege largescale acquisition of US voter dataAccording to Trump the documents were compiled by the White House Government Transparency Task Force and reviewed with assistance from the Presidentrsquos Intelligence Advisory Board and senior intelligence officialsTrump claimed that one set of records alleges China acquired approximately 220 million US voter files containing names addresses telephone numbers political affiliations and other personal information that could potentially be used in electionrelated activitiesA separate statement issued by the White House task force said more than 200 million voter records lacking statespecific affiliations had been compromised It also stated that voter records linked to at least 18 states were affected The statement identified 16 jurisdictions including Alaska Arkansas Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Maryland Michigan New York North Carolina and OhioTrump seeks investigation into intelligence agenciesTrump accused officials within the US intelligence community of suppressing information related to Chinas alleged activities and claimed that the intelligence had not been shared with him while he was serving his first term as presidentHe directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the Department of Justice the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency CIA to investigate why the information was allegedly withheldTrump also called for any officials found to have engaged in wrongdoing to be dismissed and prosecuted where appropriateReports detail alleged influence operationsAmong the released records are intelligence reports alleging that China attempted to weaken Trumps political standing influence American business leaders and journalists and exploit racial economic immigration and partisan divisions within the United StatesOther documents describe alleged Chinese efforts to collect voter registration information and personally identifiable dataOne intelligence assessment states that publicly available voter information from Colorado Connecticut Florida Michigan Oklahoma and Rhode Island was downloaded from commercial websites by a suspected Chinese cyber actor in January 2022 The assessment further says the same actor unsuccessfully attempted to download an Ohio voter registration applicationFBI records revisit Michigan voter registration probeTrump also highlighted declassified FBI records relating to an investigation in Michigan involving allegedly fraudulent voter registration applicationsThe documents include witness statements database checks and details of a federal investigation that continued for several years However prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges and the FBI later closed the case after concluding that investigators had not established a prosecutable federal offenceElection security concerns likely to fuel political debateTrump said his administration would notify governors lawmakers and state officials about vulnerabilities identified in their respective jurisdictions He also urged Congress to pass legislation requiring photo identification and proof of citizenship for voting while significantly restricting the use of mailin ballotsSeparately a report by the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned that stolen voter information could potentially be used to request absentee ballots modify voter addresses or polling locations and add or remove voter registrations The report also stated that voter registration systems had been targeted across all 50 states with confirmed successful compromises reported in at least 20 statesThe release of the declassified records is expected to intensify political debate over foreign interference election security and the handling of sensitive intelligence ahead of the upcoming US midterm electionsWith inputs from IANS