The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has intensified its efforts to review how certain undisclosed documents were handled previously, which include allegations from sources regarding Chinese Communist Party’s suspected interference in the 2020 U.S. election. FBI Director Kash Patel pointed out that these documents detailed “alarming accusations” that, although verified, were suddenly recalled and never disclosed to the public.
FBI Director Kash Patel declassified these documents on June 16 and shared them with Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, dating back to the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election. According to documents obtained by The Epoch Times, the FBI had issued a warning to federal agencies about counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses being sent from China to the U.S. The FBI later retracted the warning and requested the destruction of these documents.
The recalled documents stated: “Recall of this report is for re-verification of sources. Recipients shall destroy all copies of the original report and delete the original report from all computer storage. Recipients shall also ensure that any intelligence product that cites the information is based on ‘substantive recall’ of this report, not the previous version.”
The warning was issued on August 24, 2020. Just weeks before the FBI issued the alert, U.S. authorities announced the discovery of nearly 20,000 counterfeit driver’s licenses, the majority originating from China and intended for college-aged students. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the time stated these fake IDs could lead to identity theft and pose a threat to critical U.S. infrastructure.
The FBI’s documents cited a secondary source who claimed to have obtained information from undisclosed Chinese officials.
This unverified claim suggested that the Chinese regime mass-produced fake driver’s licenses and “secretly exported” them to the U.S., enabling “tens of thousands” of ineligible Chinese students and immigrants to engage in fraudulent voting. The report also mentioned that the Chinese regime used private user data obtained from TikTok overseas accounts to create fake driver’s licenses and used them for mailing ballots.
In response to this claim, the FBI added a cautionary note stating that personal address information is not a “valid field” when creating a TikTok account.
The comment further stated, “The source does not detail how the PRC gains access to U.S. address data from the application.” The comment indicated that the information source “may be contacted to substantiate.”
FBI Director Kash Patel provided these documents upon request by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, who in May requested the FBI’s Albany, New York office to provide an intelligence report dated September 25, 2020.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Patel expressed gratitude to Chairman Grassley for oversight and cooperation, emphasizing the FBI’s commitment to unprecedented transparency for the nation.
He described the accusations outlined in the document as “alarming.”
“In particular, these allegations include the revelation of the Chinese Communist Party manufacturing fake driver’s licenses and importing them to the U.S. for ease of fraudulent mail-in voting schemes – these allegations, though verified, were suddenly recalled and never disclosed to the public,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump attributed his loss in the 2020 election to election fraud. With the FBI’s disclosure of these documents making headlines, President Trump highlighted the accusations of Chinese interference in the election.
On Wednesday (June 18th), as workers installed two large flagpoles on either side of the White House, President Trump was interviewed on-site, mentioning he had heard news about China and “tens of thousands” of (counterfeit) U.S. IDs.
“They used those IDs to vote in my second election – my second presidential election,” he said. “Everyone here knows I won that election by a great margin. However, the only good thing I can say is that this term, more than the second term I believe I was entitled to, has more, deeper historical significance.”
Grassley has written to Patel requesting more related documents regarding the recall decision.
In a letter shared with The Epoch Times on June 17, Grassley sought records of all communications regarding re-contacting the source and recalling related documents, “including but not limited to all communications between special agents and intelligence analysts.”
He also asked Patel to describe what investigative steps the FBI has taken or plans to take to verify the authenticity of the intelligence report, who made the recall decision, and the reasons for making that decision. Additionally, Patel was required to explain why copies of the original report were ordered to be destroyed under his predecessor’s leadership, whether such action aligns with past and current FBI practices and federal record-keeping requirements, among others.
Grassley stated to The Epoch Times, “The document alleges serious national security concerns, necessitating a comprehensive investigation by the FBI.” He urged the FBI to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and inform the American public of the investigation’s results.
When asked about Grassley’s letter, Patel welcomed the request.
“In restoring accountability and transparency to the American people’s FBI, Senator Grassley has been a significant partner of ours, and we look forward to continuing to work with him,” Patel told The Epoch Times.
Even before the 2020 election, several senior officials responsible for overseeing national security and intelligence under former President Trump expressed concerns about Chinese interference in the U.S. election.
In August 2020, then-National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien mentioned on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that hackers associated with the Chinese government were targeting U.S. election infrastructure and expressed they “would like to see [President Trump] lose.”
Former Director of National Intelligence and current CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated in January 2021 that based on “all available intelligence sources,” he believed China was “attempting to influence the 2020 U.S. Federal elections.”
A report released by the National Intelligence Council in March 2021 noted that some intelligence officials believed the Chinese regime tried to undermine Trump in the election, although the report primarily focused on Russia’s influence at that time.