Washington, July 17 (SANA) U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of carrying out the “largest election data breach in history,” saying he plans to declassify documents that reveal major vulnerabilities in the U.S. electoral system.
Trump said in a televised address that China accessed the data of about 20 million voters during the 2020 presidential election, according to Agence France-Presse. He accused Beijing of attempting to influence public opinion to undermine his campaign and reduce voter support for him.
Trump said he had directed the Director of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate Chinese interference, adding that findings related to alleged breaches of election infrastructure would be released later.
He added that some FBI officials attempted to conceal documents related to Chinese interference, and said intelligence assessments indicated that both China and Russia had the capability to target U.S. election data.
Trump said his administration was taking steps to strengthen voter data protection and urged Congress to pass legislation requiring voter identification verification.
Earlier this month, Trump removed the remaining members of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency responsible for supporting election administration and security, months before November’s midterm elections.
T.S /ABD
