President Donald Trump took to primetime television Thursday night with a nearly 26 minute address that basically amounted to telling the country that China has been rummaging through our election data like a raccoon in a dumpster. According to declassified intelligence documents released by the White House, as Conservative Brief reported, China allegedly compromised more than 200 million voter records and accessed voter rolls in at least 18 states, with 15 states and the District of Columbia publicly identified.
Trump also said a Department of Homeland Security review found approximately 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections, with roughly half of them in California. California, of course, is the state that automatically mails ballots to every registered voter while apparently treating voter roll maintenance like a New Year's resolution nobody keeps.
The address covered several categories of declassified material, including alleged Chinese efforts to influence American elections, the acquisition of U.S. voter data, vulnerabilities in electronic voting infrastructure, what Trump described as a mishandled Michigan voter registration investigation, and the DHS noncitizen registration findings. So basically a greatest hits album of things that should make you deeply uncomfortable.
National security experts promptly lined up to share their thoughts, which ranged from concerned to extremely concerned.
Michael Lucci, CEO and founder of State Armor, told Breitbart News that "China's efforts to influence the 2020 election are another reminder that the Chinese Communist Party is pursuing a broad strategy to infiltrate American society, not just our politics, but our critical infrastructure, universities, technology, supply chains, and state institutions." He added, "They even used financial leverage to turn American journalists and businesses against the President." Lucci, who has testified before Congress on the matter, called for a laser focus on fighting back.
Mike Martin, a former senior national security official and National Security Council spokesman during Trump's first term, said, "President Trump and Director Ratcliffe deserve tremendous credit for bringing this intelligence to light and refusing to let these threats stay hidden from the American people." He called Communist China "one of the greatest threats to our nation's security, prosperity, and way of life."
Cale Brown, chairman of Polaris National Security and a former principal deputy spokesperson at the State Department, credited Trump's "leadership" and noted, "While he's sought to maintain an amicable relationship with Xi Jinping, he's not shied away from telling the truth, as he did with the origins of COVID, and now with the declassified intelligence surrounding China's designs on our electoral process." Brown warned that "complacency on our part works to serve Beijing's interests."
Trump said his administration would notify affected states and work with state and local officials to address technical vulnerabilities before the November midterm elections. Which feels a bit like telling someone their front door has been wide open for five years and then offering to install a deadbolt. Better late than never, but maybe next time we check the locks a little sooner.
Like what you see? Then sign up for our Free Newsletter
