Trump announces plan to declassify data on alleged Chinese voter file theft

Washington — President Joe Biden announced plans to declassify intelligence material indicating that Chinese actors had illicitly obtained approximately 220 million U.S. voter‑registration records. The decision follows a classified briefing in which analysts detailed how the data, harvested from multiple state and local databases, was transferred to China through a series of cyber‑intrusions and commercial data brokers. Officials said the declassification will allow Congress and the public to assess the scope of the breach and to evaluate potential safeguards for future elections, while emphasizing that the acquisition of the records did not constitute direct manipulation of the 2020 vote.

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that China interfered in the 2020 election, a position that conflicts with multiple independent reviews. Investigations by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice and bipartisan congressional panels have concluded there is no evidence of significant Chinese influence on the election outcome. The upcoming release of the declassified documents is expected to focus on the data theft itself rather than any impact on voting results, and authorities have indicated that further steps will be taken to strengthen election‑security protocols.