A newly declassified CIA intelligence note alleges that the Chinese government sought to pay American journalists who had previously written critically about President Donald Trump in an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
The document was among a series of intelligence records released by the White House Thursday evening as President Trump delivered a speech outlining newly declassified findings on election security and foreign interference.
During the address, Trump accused the Chinese Communist Party of attempting to undermine his reelection by encouraging additional negative media coverage.
Speaking during his roughly 26-minute election integrity address, Trump said the intelligence showed Beijing had actively sought to shape American public opinion ahead of the 2020 election.
The allegations were part of a broader presentation in which Trump discussed declassified findings concerning election security, including findings about voter registration rolls, electronic voting systems and a Michigan election fraud investigation following the 2020 election.
CIA Note Outlines Alleged Strategy
According to the declassified CIA memorandum released by the White House, China’s strategy in mid-2019 was focused on weakening domestic confidence in the American president.
“The strategy included efforts to use Chinese contracts with big U.S. companies to influence U.S. business leaders to turn against the U.S. President,” the intelligence note states.
It further alleges that Chinese officials attempted to recruit American journalists who had already published critical reporting on Trump.
“The Chinese Government sought to identify U.S. journalists who had reported negatively on the U.S. President and pay them to write more negative articles about him,” the memo reads. “The Chinese Government wanted the U.S. President to lose the next election.”
The released document does not identify any journalists, media organizations or companies that participated in or were targeted by the purported effort.
China Denies Allegations
Following Trump’s speech, the Chinese government denied the allegations of election interference.
According to CBS News, the Chinese Embassy in Washington issued a statement denying any attempt to influence the 2020 presidential race.
“China has all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in others’ internal affairs,” the embassy said. “The U.S. election is an internal matter of the U.S. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people. China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the U.S.”
On Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry also called on the United States to “stop vilifying China.”
Election Integrity Document Release
The CIA memo was one of several declassified intelligence documents made public by the White House during Trump’s election integrity address.
According to the administration, the materials also address alleged Chinese efforts to compromise American voter rolls, the presence of noncitizens on voter registration lists, vulnerabilities in electronic voting and ballot-counting systems, and claims that a federal investigation into alleged election fraud in Michigan following the 2020 election was delayed by the Biden Department of Justice.
The White House has published the declassified records as part of a broader effort to support additional election security measures, including congressional passage of the SAVE America Act.
The allegations contained in the declassified CIA note have not been independently verified.
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