Bera, House Intelligence Committee Democrats Call on Intelligence Community Leadership to Rebut Trump’s Election Lies

Washington, D.C. — Today, Representative Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06) joined House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member Jim Himes (CT-04) and all other Democratic members of the Committee in sending a letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel, and National Security Agency Director Joshua Rudd. The Members called on the Intelligence Community leaders to protect the integrity and independence of their agencies and reject efforts to use intelligence to advance President Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. The letter comes ahead of a speech in which the President reportedly plans to disclose information about purported foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 election.
“It is concerning that at a time when the Intelligence Community is not complying with its legal responsibilities to protect our upcoming elections, it appears focused instead on discrediting past elections without evidence,” the Members wrote. “The facts of the 2020 election have long been settled. The Intelligence Community assessed in a declassified Intelligence Community Assessment from 2021 that, ‘We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to interfere in the 2020 US elections by altering any technical aspect of the voting process.’ No intelligence to the contrary has ever been provided to the Committee, despite repeated requests for updates. This declassified finding is backed by detailed intelligence in a classified version of the same assessment, including a version that remains restricted to the Gang of 8. Notably, this Intelligence Community Assessment was prepared during President Trump’s first term in office and coordinated by then-Director of National Intelligence Ratcliffe.”
The Members continued : “The President is within his authority to declassify intelligence, but if he does so in a way that is intended to mislead Americans about the most basic foundation of our democracy and that may compromise sources and methods, it is incumbent on you to stand up for the agencies you lead. Before any intelligence is publicly disclosed, it should be coordinated with all relevant Intelligence Community elements, reviewed under applicable analytic tradecraft standards, and provided to the congressional intelligence committees.”
“We remind you that you are statutorily obligated to keep the Committee fully and currently informed, a requirement that should include notification of new intelligence related to election influence or interference as well as any significant declassification. A reckless effort to weaponize intelligence to support false claims about election security will have a lasting and destructive impact on the relationship between the Intelligence Community and its oversight committees, as well as on the trust of the American people. We sincerely hope you do not go down that road,” they concluded.
Read the full letter to IC leadership here .