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‘Shadow government’: Trump claims intel community bragged about hiding Chinese meddling

‘Shadow government’: Trump claims intel community bragged about hiding Chinese meddling

President Donald Trump accused members of the U.S. intelligence community Thursday night of operating a “shadow government” to allegedly conceal evidence of China’s efforts to influence U.S. elections, seizing on newly declassified emails that he says reveal a bitter internal dispute about how Beijing’s activities should be characterized. Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions. Trump claimed intelligence officials kept significant reporting out of his presidential briefings and highlighted an email in which a National Security Agency analyst allegedly wrote, “We have deliberately massaged our one pending (presidential daily brief) to avoid any direct links to the election.” TRUMP RELEASES DECLASSIFIED ELECTION INTELLIGENCE, SAYS IT REVEALS ‘SHOCKING VULNERABILITIES’ “Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden,” Trump claimed. “They did not disclose (it) to me as president or to anyone else.” Trump used the disclosures to press Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, casting the newly released intelligence as evidence that lawmakers must tighten federal election rules before the midterms. “Most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “These reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I’ve mentioned.” The SAVE America Act passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate in March, when a 53–47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it. Trump urged Americans to call their senators and representatives and demand its passage “without delay.” REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP’S TOP ELECTION PRIORITY ‘DEAD’ IN SENATE AS GOP FRACTURES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS The legislation would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, photo identification to vote and ongoing state efforts to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Absentee voters would be required to submit a copy of an eligible photo ID when requesting a ballot and again when returning it. Trump also called for eliminating mail-in voting except in cases of illness, disability, military deployment or travel. The current text of the SAVE America Act does not include that prohibition — it permits absentee voting subject to identification requirements. Trump urged Americans to call their representatives and demand the bill’s passage “without delay.” The newly released emails show that analysts disagreed over whether any alleged Chinese influence operations and intelligence collection should be explicitly linked to elections. After the NSA analyst described “massaging” the President’s Daily Brief, other intelligence officials questioned the decision, with one writing that “the mind boggles” and another calling the approach “highly irregular.” One official alleged the intelligence community was “deliberately avoiding mentioning a connection to elections for non-substantive reasons,” according to a November 2020 email. That official sought to reconnect the intelligence to the election-security assessment and prevent what another described as an “analytic objectivity mistake.” The documents, however, do not establish Trump’s broader allegation of a politically motivated conspiracy. Instead, they portray competing intelligence assessments over whether China’s actions amounted to an effort to influence the presidential contest or a broader campaign focused on U.S. policies, public opinion and issues important to Beijing. Trump went further Thursday, claiming an FBI official wrote that she was running a “shadow government” to prevent the China intelligence from becoming public. China denied any interference in U.S. elections. “China has all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in other’s internal affairs,” Chinese embassy spokesperson  Liu Chang told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. election is an internal matter of the U.S. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people. China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the U.S.”  Trump is still expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in September, a senior White House official told Fox News.  Trump directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and CIA Thursday to investigate why the intelligence was withheld, fire anyone found to have participated in a cover-up and pursue criminal charges “if appropriate.” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in response to the address: “Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community.”

Trump releases declassified election intelligence, says it reveals ‘shocking vulnerabilities’

Trump releases declassified election intelligence, says it reveals ‘shocking vulnerabilities’

President Donald Trump addressed the nation Thursday evening on “free and fair” elections, announcing the declassification of critical intelligence that reveals, as he said, “shocking vulnerabilities” related to “hacking, exploitation and foreign interference.”  “This vital information is for many years been covered up and hidden from you,” Trump said. “The American people are beautiful, our great American people. But that all changes right now.” Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions. Documents were posted to the White House website during the president’s speech. TRUMP KEEPS ‘REALLY BIG’ ADDRESS UNDER WRAPS AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘NOBODY KNOWS’ WHAT HE’LL REVEAL The speech came as his administration has aggressively pushed policies, legislation and executive orders to secure U.S. elections.  “The documents we will release starting tonight have been gathered by the White House Government Transparency Taskforce, a great group of people, along with the staff of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, supported by our top intelligence agency chiefs, who have all personally reviewed the findings we are presenting this evening and fully confirmed their authenticity,” Trump said Thursday. Leading up to the address, Trump teased that his speech would be “big news.” Trump touted his new Trump Accounts and spoke about how his administration has lowered drug prices, reduced crime and strengthened the border — with the main focus on securing American elections. Trump said the disclosures underscore its push for stricter election security measures and renewed calls for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, while critics have disputed many of Trump’s claims about the 2020 election and widespread voter fraud. Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin were among the White House officials seated in the East Room. The White House released four sections of documents focused on alleged vulnerabilities in electronic voting and ballot-counting systems, China’s acquisition and exploitation of American voter data, Michigan voter-registration investigation and noncitizens on state voter rolls. Election law expert and senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital that Trump’s allegations are shocking, especially given that they are from reports produced by the CIA, FBI, and other intelligence agencies. “The president should be commended for declassifying and releasing the reports that support his claims so they can be reviewed in depth,” said von Spakovsky. Trump said China obtained information about American voters such as names, addresses, phone numbers, political affiliations and other personal information to form a dedicated unit to exploit the voter data it had acquired. “China has all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in other’s internal affairs. The U.S. election is an internal matter of the U.S. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people,” Chinese Embassy spokesperson Mr. Liu Chang said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the U.S,” Chang added. Reports from the CIA and National Security Agency about China’s interference were kept out of Trump’s almost daily presidential briefings, Trump claimed. Trump also said Congress also was not notified.  TRUMP THREATENS TO EXPAND STRIKES ON IRAN, SAYS POWER PLANTS ARE NEXT TO GO: ‘HIT THEM HARD’ Trump called on the director of national intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the CIA to launch an investigation and, if appropriate, fire and press criminal charges against those involved.  “To the extent that these intrusions into our election system were covered up, as the president alleges, and hidden from the public, Congress, state election officials, and leadership in the Executive Branch, Pres. Trump is right that everyone involved in that coverup should be investigated and prosecuted for any criminal violations of the law,” said von Spakovsky. Trump again highlighted the issue of noncitizens on voter rolls as he renewed his push for the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and photo identification to register and vote in federal elections. “I’ve also ordered DHS to notify every state about noncitizens on their voter rolls and direct them to remove all ineligible voters from the lists immediately,” said Trump. The Department of Homeland Security told election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania that a preliminary review identified more than 256,000 potential noncitizens on the states’ voter rolls, according to letters obtained by Fox News Digital. Trump has pushed to get the SAVE America Act passed, which includes the long-sought voter ID and citizenship verification — which Republicans say is key to ensuring elections are safe and secure.  Trump has tried to attach the stalled election legislation to defense spending, holding housing legislation hostage and playing Senate primary politics. Republicans are running against the clock to pass the stalled elections bill before the party’s midterm window narrows. Democratic lawmakers swiftly condemned Trump’s remarks and criticized the SAVE Act. “Not now. Not ever. The SAVE Act is dead on arrival in the United States Senate,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote on X reposting Trump’s speech. “Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. And now he’s trying to rig this year’s election with the SAVE America Act to make it harder to vote for millions of women, veterans, rural folks, & voters of color,” wrote Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley. “Tonight seems to be the ceremonial kickoff of President Trump’s campaign to interfere in the November election. Trump has badly lost independent voters, even MAGA is disheartened; he is failing and unpopular, and he’s dragging his party down with him in the midterms,” said Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.