Whistleblower Alleges 2020 CCP Election Influence Ops Targeting Trump Were Suppressed

Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here.

quote:

---

Multiple sources tell me that a credible whistleblower complaint was filed alleging the CIA, FBI and other IC agencies suppressed intelligence about China’s influence operations during the 2020 election targeting President Trump and his campaign.
Based on my reporting, China’s goal was to “impede” President Trump’s re-election and "denigrate" him as a candidate. I understand the DNI is actively working to declassify the records.
According to these accounts, the CIA, then led by Director Gina Haspel, would not document the Chinese influence operations, in a formal way, out of concern that President Trump would use the intelligence to his advantage.
Based on the complaint, senior intelligence officials are accused of heavy-handed editing of the whistleblower’s reports about China’s sweeping influence operations during the 2020 election cycle.
In some instances, senior CIA officials are accused of taking “pen to paper” to strike sections because “the intelligence assessments would help Trump.” I am told some track changes make “specific reference to domestic politics.”
A senior intelligence official emphasized that in 2020 China was not held to the same standard as Russia and other adversaries, including North Korea, Iran and its proxy Hezbollah. The official said Chinese influence operations were consistently “downplayed,” while Russia’s activities were routinely “amplified.”
The official added that the CIA was “driving political bias” in the intelligence assessments as well as the need to “massage” the President’s Daily Brief. Known as the "PDB," it is a highly classified summary of intelligence and analysis on national security.
For calling out the apparent suppression of China intelligence targeting President Trump before the 2020 Presidential election, the whistleblower was allegedly retaliated against. The alleged retaliation included:
Change in the whistleblower’s job responsibilities
Threats to destroy their reputation
The “dissent” report that challenged the majority view about China’s election activities was allegedly altered and the “confidence level” downgraded
Independent, publicly available cyber security reports appear to back up the whistleblower’s allegations that intelligence was suppressed about China’s activities in 2020.
In April 2020 a classified intelligence assessment found Beijing was ramping up activities in advance of the US election.
The April 2020 report was eventually declassified and publicly released two years later by the Biden Administration’s top intelligence official, Avril Haines.
The Intelligence Community assessment called “Cyber Operations Enabling Expansive Digital Authoritarianism" warned that “Chinese intelligence officials analyzed multiple US states’ election voter registration data ... to conduct public opinion analysis on the 2020 US general election.”
The assessment went further suggesting that China and Russia were “increasing their ability to analyze and manipulate large quantities of personal information in ways that will allow them to more effectively target and influence ... individuals and groups in the United States and allied countries.”
NOTE: This US intelligence community analysis is the one of the earliest, if not the earliest, warning that China was analyzing US election data in the 2020 election cycle.
Based on my reporting, by May 2020, there was a general consensus among the intelligence agencies that China was planning a “potentially huge campaign” targeting the upcoming Presidential election.
The Chinese Community Party’s (CCP) effort was considered to be much bigger than similar election campaigns launched by Russia because the CCP campaign would be executed across multiple domains.
At that time, the US intelligence community believed China had not “flipped the switch” on its election interference activities.
But a month later, in June 2020, an uptick in Chinese activity was identified. I understand the Intelligence streams indicated the Chinese influence campaign had already begun.
As one government contact put it, "If the IC (intelligence community) was suppressing the China intelligence in 2020, what else was it suppressing?"
There was no immediate response to our reporting from the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC.
There is ongoing investigation into the whistleblower complaint and alleged retaliation by the intelligence community watchdog. A spokesperson for the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
In response to our questions, which included alleged political bias on then CIA Director Haspel's watch, a CIA spokesperson provided this statement:
"Director Ratcliffe was among the first to raise alarms about China’s efforts to influence the 2020 election. While serving as DNI, he publicly held the Intelligence Community accountable following the Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Elections ICA (Intelligence Community Assessment) citing inconsistencies, violations of analytic tradecraft standards, and an assessment that failed to fully reflect the scope of China’s election influence activities relative to Russia’s. At CIA, Director Ratcliffe is committed to ensuring intelligence assessments are produced and evaluated objectively and in accordance with rigorous analytic tradecraft standards. The integrity of our elections is critical to our republic, and Director Ratcliffe has made clear that America’s adversaries will be exposed and held accountable for any attempt to undermine it." --CIA Director of Public Affairs Liz Lyons

---