After President Donald Trump’s 25-minute prime-time address cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections, I spoke with two top voices: Geoff Hale, who previously led the Department of Homeland Security’s Election Task Force and Cybersecurity Strategy. And David Becker, the Executive Director of The Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Trump told Americans that China had obtained voter data on millions of Americans, which David said was publicly available information that would not change any actual votes. “Just because you have the voter data doesn’t mean you can do anything with the person’s voter record. You can’t vote on their behalf, you can’t change or delete their voter record.”
Trump also said the intel community “kept the information secret and hidden.” But the White House’s declassified documents appeared to match what was disclosed to the public back in 2021 — that China had weighed influencing the election through public opinion, not by tampering with voting infrastructure.
Before our conversation, a former intelligence official expressed deep concern to me about one redacted CIA Note. It stated, “As of mid-2018, the [People’s Republic of China’s] ultimate goal with regard to the U.S. elections was for the U.S. President [Trump] not to be re-elected.”
The person told me the document looked like a “tasking” from the White House or CIA Director John Ratcliffe to support Trump’s rhetoric. Why? It had summaries but no analysis, which is inconsistent with the CIA’s Directorate of Analysis. The date was redacted, when other released documents contained dates. And it violated the style guide for the intel community, such as by using periods around “U.S.”
Unfortunately, DHS’s cybersecurity arm, in which Geoff worked, and the ODNI’s Foreign Malign Influence Center, which tracked influence campaigns, have both been dismantled in Trump’s second term.
“We’ve lost that watch and warning function,” Geoff said. “Or diminished its ability to associate the intelligence community’s ability to access plans and intentions, and then the election community’s ability to detect the implementation of those plans. If they aren’t talking, it’s going to be a lot harder to connect the dots… especially as we’re amid conflict with Iran.”
David said Trump’s latest actions amount to “panic and desperation.” I asked if that would mean that would try to declare a national emergency during the election in November.
“The president could say there’s a national emergency. Good luck with that. That’s gonna be blocked immediately. He could try to postpone or cancel the election, I don’t think he will. We have never canceled or postponed a federal general election in American history. Not during the Civil War, not during two World Wars, not during two global pandemics, not during natural disasters, not even in 1814 when British troops were on American soil burning down the White House.”
Watch the video for the full conversation. And you can find more on my YouTube channel.
