Trump's election integrity speech: 7 takeaways every American should know

In his code to the federation connected July 16, President Donald Trump made a cardinal constituent seemingly mislaid connected his critics:

Every American, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, autarkic oregon otherwise, should beryllium capable to hold that we merit the astir secure, honest, and fair predetermination system anyplace successful the world. Secure elections should not beryllium a partisan issue.

Yet Democratic critics are already disputing the grounds and conclusions Trump presented.

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Here are the 7 biggest takeaways astir the vulnerabilities successful our predetermination process, arsenic outlined by the president:

1. In his speech, Trump said recently declassified quality showed that China had illicitly acquired oregon attempted to get voter-registration accusation involving arsenic galore arsenic 220 cardinal Americans crossed aggregate states. He characterized it arsenic the "largest compromise of predetermination information successful history," involving the theft of "220 cardinal U.S. elector files."

This allegation is shocking but not surprising. The Chinese engaged successful a akin hack during the Obama administration, erstwhile they stole the unit files of astir 22 cardinal existent and erstwhile national employees (including me) from the Office of Personnel Management. The Chinese subject maintains units devoted to cyber operations targeting overseas governments and industries.

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2. Instead of informing officials successful the 18 affected states, President Trump alleged that individuals wrong the quality agencies "worked to actively suppress and downplay accusation astir the grade of China’s" cybersecurity attacks, without adjacent briefing the president oregon members of Congress. According to the president, an expert admitted successful an email that officials "deliberately massaged the statesmanlike regular briefing to withhold" this information, portion different FBI authoritative said she was moving a "shadow government" to support quality astir China’s meddling from becoming known.

If true, this is outrageous behavior. The president has instructed national agencies to instantly supply states with each the accusation needed to remedy the vulnerabilities that allegedly allowed this to occur. That should person been done erstwhile the breach was archetypal discovered.

Secure elections should not beryllium a partisan issue.

3. According to President Trump, CIA reports bespeak that the Chinese worked to "undermine home confidence" successful the president. That effort included "efforts to usage Chinese contacts with large U.S. companies to power U.S. concern leaders to crook against the president" arsenic good arsenic to usage "U.S. journalists who had reported negatively connected the U.S. president." These allegations evidently request further investigation.

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4. The medication said DHS database comparisons flagged astir 278,000 voter-registration records nationwide arsenic perchance associated with noncitizens. Fox News Digital separately reported that DHS letters alleged much than 256,000 imaginable matches successful 4 states. A merchandise from the Department of Homeland Security indicates that 10 states person voluntarily participated successful this program, and DHS reviewed the nationalist files from California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada, which person refused to cooperate. The president claims that "since galore Democrat states garbage to stock their elector files the existent fig [of registered aliens] is really overmuch higher than that." But adjacent this "limited analysis" should rise concerns, according to the president — and helium is right.

5. The president says that quality reports measure "that centralized election-related information repositories, specified arsenic elector registration databases, canvass books, and different authoritative predetermination websites are astir susceptible to exploitation, and adversaries could usage this entree to these systems to disrupt predetermination processes." He says Americans "were blatantly lied to astir the information of our predetermination infrastructure…They’re susceptible and they’re easy compromised and radical wrong our authorities knew that." This calls for implicit cybersecurity audits by authorities officials of their physics predetermination systems.

6. According to the president, overmuch of this accusation was recovered successful "burn bags," which are utilized for classified documents marked for demolition but, due to the fact that of "gross incompetence," were ne'er burned. The president has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the CIA to analyse "how and wherefore specified important accusation was hidden, to occurrence those progressive successful the cover-up and to record transgression charges, if appropriate." That is intelligibly the close people of action.

7. Finally, the president demanded that the Senate walk the SAVE America Act, which would instrumentality elector ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements for national elections. He is besides close astir that — this is needed to hole the existent registration "honor" system, which is excessively often dishonored.

The president’s presumption was not what his critics astir apt expected. As Fox News’s Ashley DiMella reported, determination were nary claims that China changed votes oregon altered predetermination results.

But Trump outlined allegations of superior cybersecurity problems that person present been uncovered, including a Chinese power campaign, and said the accusation was seemingly hidden from him, the public, Congress, and authorities predetermination officials.

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Those who assertion nary of this is existent are doing truthful earlier they person adjacent reviewed the treasure trove of formerly classified documents that has present been released, and earlier immoderate states person adjacent begun to analyse the imaginable compromise of their predetermination systems.

It seems evident that each of this should — indeed, indispensable — beryllium investigated. That is the lone mode to code alleged existing vulnerabilities and marque definite nary aboriginal elections are compromised.

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A nonaccomplishment to bash truthful volition further harm the assurance the American radical person successful the predetermination process, alternatively than the president’s determination to bring these quality assessments to light. Based connected my research, the grounds from states that person implemented election-integrity reforms, specified arsenic elector ID, makes it wide that specified reforms amended nationalist assurance and turnout successful our elections.

That is what we should each beryllium aiming for.

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