Trump Accuses China of 'Sinister Election Meddling'

President Trump used his prime-time address on Thursday to make a series of sweeping accusations about election fraud, saying the US system "falls catastrophically short," per the AP. He accused China in particular of "sinister election meddling" in the 2020 vote he lost to Joe Biden, and of carrying out "the largest compromise of election data in history." He further alleged that members of the intelligence community and the "deep state" tried to "actively suppress" reports about China's actions. And he also pushed Congress to pass the Save America Act to require proof of citizenship and voter ID at the polls, per NBC News.

• A quick counter: His "statements are simply not true," writes Julian E. Barnes in the New York Times. "While it is possible for foreign countries to mount influence operations, the intelligence agencies have long concluded that it is all but impossible for any country to change votes beyond any localized efforts." The voter records he claims were illicitly obtained by China were publicly available, Barnes added. And documents released by the White House purportedly backing up the president's claims are "far more guarded in their conclusions," writes Maggie Haberman.

• China denies: Beijing denied the allegations in advance, after word leaked Trump would make them, per the Washington Post. "China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US," said spokesman Liu Chang. US intelligence agencies reached the same conclusion in early 2021 about the 2020 election.
• In Michigan: Trump said he instructed the FBI to re-investigate claims that a voter-registration group in Muskegon, Wisconsin, filed bogus registrations.
• The files: The White House began releasing what Trump described as newly declassified files backing up his claims. See them here.