White House Holds Onto Report on Voting Machine Vulnerability

The White House is sitting on an intelligence report that flags notable weaknesses in the country's voting machines, Reuters reports. The still-unreleased assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reportedly finds no evidence votes have been altered but says many machines run outdated software and in some cases can connect to the internet—issues that security experts have warned about for years. The report urges fixes such as software updates, which require coordination with states, but that process has yet to begin.

Why the delay? Some inside the White House fear the findings could dent public trust in elections, particularly among Republicans; others complain the report doesn't support President Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Agency Director Tulsi Gabbard ordered the review as part of a broader Trump-directed push to investigate allegations of voter fraud, even as courts and federal agencies have found no proof of widespread manipulation. Bill Pulte, whom Trump has appointed Gabbard's interim successor, has been briefed on the report but has not cleared it for release. A contractor study commissioned by the office also found no hacking and similarly remains unpublished, per Reuters.