Full story
Trump readies election claims
President Donald Trump is set to deliver a 9 p.m. Thursday night primetime address that he says will include a focus on elections, as he escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November’s midterm elections.
“Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election, claimed not to know his predecessor Tulsi Gabbard took part in a raid of a Georgia election office earlier this year and defended subpoenaing New York Times journalists in a contentious Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday”
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” and he said he would “save it” for the moment rather than preview details beyond “really big news.”
The address comes as Trump confronts a collapsing deal to end the war with Iran and faces domestic issues including “recent deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers,” according to Scripps News.
France 24 reported that Trump’s Thursday speech will be about newly declassified intelligence on investigations into the 2020 presidential election and alleged voting machine flaws, reviving fraud claims dismissed by courts and officials.
France 24 also said the administration official told Reuters that Trump would discuss what the White House views as voting machine flaws that could permit foreign cyber intrusion.
DNI nominee faces grilling
In a separate development, Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, refused to say Joe Biden won the 2020 election during his appearance before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Clayton told the committee, “I am not an election denier. Joe Biden was certified,” while Sen. Jon Ossoff pressed him on whether he was aware of Tulsi Gabbard’s presence earlier this year at a raid of a Fulton County, Georgia, election office.
Ossoff also asked, “Is it appropriate for the director of national intelligence to oversee the execution of domestic search warrants at sensitive election facilities? Yes or no?” and Clayton did not answer, with Ossoff saying, “Your answers lack credibility. Your testimony lacks credibility.”
The NBC News report said Trump is expected to use the Thursday speech to renew his focus on election integrity and highlight findings his administration says show foreign interference in the 2020 election, according to a person familiar with the planning.
NBC News added that the speech is planned for Thursday night and is tied to the administration’s effort to spotlight alleged foreign interference in 2020.
Declassification, oversight, and risk
Multiple outlets tied Trump’s Thursday address to a White House task force reviewing thousands of pages of classified intelligence and law enforcement documents for evidence of irregularities in U.S. elections, with documents expected to begin releasing in the coming weeks.
“The FBI opens an investigation after an ICE agent killed a Colombian whom he mistook for someone else”
El Mundo America said the task force is expected to begin releasing documents in the coming weeks, and it described Trump’s plan as a “potpourri” with the central theme “national.”
Democracy Docket reported that Trump’s televised address, slated for 9 p.m. ET, is likely aimed at accelerating the White House’s multi-pronged campaign to restrict the right to vote and increase the executive branch’s control over U.S. elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Democracy Docket also quoted Trump saying in the Oval Office, “It’s really big news,” and it said the president would base his assertions on intelligence files a White House task force is set to declassify this week.
France 24 reported that courts, ballot audits, and Trump’s first-term Justice Department found no evidence of fraud, including vote-machine rigging, and it said the federal cybersecurity watchdog joined other officials in declaring the vote “the most secure in American history.”
