Declassified Records Show US Intelligence Analysts Split Over China 2020 Election Influence Assessment

The Trump administration on Thursday released declassified FBI emails, National Intelligence Council assessments and inter-agency correspondence documenting internal disputes over how to assess and report alleged Chinese influence on the 2020 election 12. An August 2020 National Intelligence Council assessment concluded Beijing preferred Trump lose re-election but was reluctant to run a large-scale covert campaign given the risk of exposure, while a March 2021 assessment found with high confidence that China did not attempt to influence the outcome or interfere with vote-counting infrastructure 2. Separate correspondence shows the Director for Election Threat Analysis telling agencies in October 2020 that he and the National Intelligence Officer for Cyber held a "somewhat different take" and planned to publish an alternative analysis, and records show the FBI recalled a circulated intelligence report amid internal debate over its sourcing and credibility 1. In a White House address, Trump cited the documents to allege China obtained 220 million U.S. voter files, said CIA and NSA reports on Chinese election targeting were kept out of his presidential briefings, and directed ODNI, the Justice Department, the FBI and the CIA to investigate how the intelligence was handled 2.