Senate Intel Vice Chair Warner Statement on President Trump’s Speech Tonight

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement: “Tonight, Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community, the FBI, DHS, DOJ, bipartisan state election officials, audits, recounts, and the courts. The facts have not changed. “As Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I have spent years overseeing our nation’s efforts to defend against foreign meddling in our elections. China is a serious strategic competitor, and it absolutely seeks to advance its interests at America’s expense. So do Russia and Iran. We should confront those threats with facts, not distort them for political purposes. “The Intelligence Community’s conclusions have been remarkably consistent across Republican and Democratic administrations. Foreign adversaries conduct espionage, cyber operations, propaganda, and influence campaigns designed to divide Americans and undermine confidence in our democracy. The Intelligence Community also concluded that China considered – but ultimately did not deploy – an influence campaign intended to affect the outcome of the 2020 election, and that no foreign government altered vote totals, hacked voting machines, or compromised the integrity of our election infrastructure. Even the minority view that President Trump cites agreed there was ‘no information suggesting China tried to interfere with election processes.’ “That distinction matters. The greatest danger to our elections right now is false narratives seized upon here at home as a pretext to convince Americans their elections cannot be trusted – or worse, to justify unprecedented federal intervention in elections that the Constitution entrusts to the states. Americans should recognize that danger for what it is. Our democracy depends on confidence in elections that are administered according to law by the states, not on falsehoods invoked to justify unprecedented government intervention.” ###