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 DefinedIn 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 InvestigationDuring 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.
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/30/2026 - 16:20A "booming backlash" against AI data centers is shaping the midterm election - candidates cutting ads touting their anti-data-center credentials, protesters showing up at campaign events, industry players taking note - which will come as genuinely useful news to anyone who has spent the past year getting their information exclusively from NBC News.
The network's framing is that last year's elections in a handful of states revealed the hyperscale buildout as a major tension point up and down the ballot, and that the fight has now intensified into a full midterm issue - with demonstrators displaying "Stop Data Centers" signs at President Trump's Michigan appearance on Sunday - the protest movement having now reached the point where it greets the president of the United States at his own events.
The anti-data center protest during President Trump’s speech in Michigan: pic.twitter.com/EjsuS7yn7g
— Craig Mauger (@CraigDMauger) July 27, 2026According to the report, Republicans, Trump included, have shifted toward ensuring data centers do not drive up voters' power bills, which is what happens when the polling gets loud enough to be heard over the donor calls.
A June Yale Program on Climate Communication poll cited by CNBC found 58% of registered voters oppose data-center construction in their own area - including 53% of conservative Republicans, which is not a demographic famous for agreeing with the 74% of liberal Democrats who feel the same way. More than 300 cities, towns and counties have enacted bans or moratoriums on hyperscale construction, per a count by The Information, and Data Center Watch tallied 75 major projects worth more than $130 billion delayed or canceled in the first quarter of 2026 alone - roughly matching the damage from all twelve months of 2025. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the nation's first statewide moratorium this month, voters in Monterey Park, California passed a permanent ban at the ballot box, and in April an unknown attacker fired 13 shots into the home of an Indianapolis councilman who had voted for an AI facility, leaving a note reading "No Data Centers," per The Week - the point at which a land-use dispute stops being a land-use dispute.
This is what it sounds like living next to a data center. The video below was recorded at midnight, and the data center is situated next to 100s of residential homes. pic.twitter.com/BHGqt3vKfb
— Merissa Hansen (@merissahansen17) May 10, 2026The issue is bipartisan in the most literal sense: nobody knows which party owns the issue. In Wisconsin, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong is campaigning on a pledge to "tax the rich, fund our schools and stop AI data centers," per AP, while Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro takes fire from his own rural base for welcoming the buildout onto prime farmland. In deep-red west Texas - which JLL projects will overtake northern Virginia as the world's largest data-center market by 2030 - protest groups led by Republicans are springing up in Lubbock, some of whose founders say they may not vote for Governor Abbott at all, and Abbott has responded by ordering regulators to make sure Texans are not paying higher electricity bills for the privilege of hosting Google. When the same issue is simultaneously a Democratic socialist's headline pledge and a Republican rancher's reason to stay home, the consultants have a problem no ad buy fixes.
None Of This Will Surprise Regular ReadersWe've been tracking this revolt since it was a smattering of county fights. Earlier this month - in one day, there were 142 coordinated protests across 42 states under Tea Party veteran Amy Kremer, who declared that America is not for sale and predicted data centers on the ballot in November and again in 2028.
Today was incredible!
142 protests. 42 states. One message: ONE NATION UNITED AGAINST DATA CENTERS!
Communities across America showed up today for a National Day of Protest Against AI Data Centers to say that We The People deserve a voice before massive data centers are… pic.twitter.com/TwE7oRjR6V
The prediction is aging well - and now the mainstream media is catching up, four months before midterms. Meanwhile the enforcement arm of the buildout keeps generating its own coverage - this week's example being the Kansas physics teacher jailed for clapping at a data-center hearing while the commission passed the zoning anyway.
A high school teacher in Kansas was arrested for clapping in opposition to a proposed data center during a city council meeting. pic.twitter.com/yWRy5P0NHP
— FactPost (@factpostnews) July 28, 2026Needless to say, the pitchforks are out...
Tyler Durden Thu, 07/30/2026 - 15:45