In a revelation that could reignite controversy over the integrity of the 2020 election, FBI Director Kash Patel has confirmed the existence of a previously concealed intelligence report from August 2020, one that implicates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a covert plan to influence the U.S. presidential race in favor of Joe Biden.
At the time, officials, mainstream media, and Democrats swiftly dismissed claims of foreign interference as “unfounded” or even “preposterous.” Now, four years later, that confidence may appear premature.
Trump’s Early Warnings—and Their Dismissal
Just weeks before the 2020 vote, then-President Donald Trump warned on Twitter:
“RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES!”
Echoing that concern, then-Attorney General Bill Barr told the New York Times Magazine in June 2020:
“There are a number of foreign countries that could easily make counterfeit ballots, put names on them, send them in.”
Election officials and legacy media outlets quickly shot down such claims. But fast forward to June 2025, and the narrative has dramatically shifted.
New Intel Paints a Troubling Picture
Speaking to Just the News, Patel revealed that declassified FBI documents detail a CCP plot to mass-produce fake U.S. driver’s licenses. These documents suggest the licenses were intended to facilitate fraudulent mail-in voting by enabling fake voter identities, allegedly to benefit Biden’s campaign.
“The documents include allegations of plans from the [Chinese Communist Party] to manufacture fake driver’s licenses and ship them into the United States for the purpose of facilitating fraudulent mail-in ballots — allegations which, while substantiated, were abruptly recalled and never disclosed to the public,” Patel said.
Seized Licenses and a Hidden Paper Trail
In a seemingly unrelated public announcement made back in July 2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed they had seized 1,513 international shipments containing nearly 20,000 counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses. Most were traced back to China and Hong Kong.
Many of the fake IDs featured functional barcodes and were addressed to college students. It remains unclear whether any of the 370,000+ Chinese international students or hundreds of thousands of Chinese illegal immigrants were intended users.
CBP warned:
“These fraudulent identity documents can lead to identity theft, worksite enforcement, critical infrastructure protection, fraud linked to immigration-related crimes such as human smuggling and human trafficking, and these documents can be used by those individuals associated with terrorism to minimize scrutiny from travel screening measures.”
Allegations Buried Amid Intelligence Community Resistance
Despite the potentially explosive content, the report was withdrawn within weeks, with officials claiming the need to re-interview the source. But insiders suggest politics played a decisive role.
An intelligence official told Just the News that CCP-produced licenses were intended to create voter identities for mail-in ballots—votes cast illegally by foreign nationals on U.S. soil.
Reluctance to Point the Finger at China
Barry Zulauf, the intelligence community’s analytic ombudsman at the time, revealed the internal resistance. In his report, Zulauf noted:
“China analysts appeared hesitant to assess Chinese actions as undue influence or interference. These analysts appeared reluctant to have their analysis on China brought forward because they tended to disagree with the [Trump] Administration’s policies, saying in effect, ‘I don’t want our intelligence used to support those policies.’”
That reluctance wasn’t isolated.
In a January 2021 memo, then-Director of National Intelligence and current CIA chief John Ratcliffe called attention to how the CIA and other senior officials “pressured [analysts] to withdraw their support” for views that pointed to Chinese interference. He added, “This was seen… as politicization, and I agree.”
A Whistleblower Driven Out
One of those who refused to cave to internal pressure was Christopher Porter, the former national intelligence officer for cyber.
“China took at least some steps to undermine former President Trump’s reelection chances,” Porter said. He claimed senior officials at the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence retaliated against him.
“Just remember, this wasn’t an oversight: it was a deliberate effort by the Intelligence Community to hide these facts from the public so President Trump couldn’t defend his campaign for reelection,” Porter added.
Internal Emails and Politicized Intelligence
Zulauf’s ombudsman report outlined multiple cases of politically driven manipulation. One memo, edited by former National Intelligence Chair Christopher Kojm—later tapped for Biden’s transition team, allegedly downplayed known threats from China.
“The result was a final product whose delayed publication meant it diverged sharply from the up-to-date IC view… I have email exchanges to document this delay, allusions to political repercussions, and frustration from intelligence professionals,” Zulauf wrote.
He also flagged “politically motivated editing” in a May 2020 National Intelligence Council memo as part of a broader pattern of intelligence manipulation.
Final Report Contradicted Emerging Evidence
Despite all of this, the National Intelligence Council in March 2021 concluded:
“China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election.”
Now, with the release of the previously buried intelligence, that conclusion is being challenged.
GOP Lawmakers React: ‘Wake Up’
Patel handed over the newly declassified documents to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley for further review.
Florida Rep. Ana Paulina Luna didn’t hold back:
“America needs to wake up. Trump is NOT the enemy, it’s the CCP.”
Meanwhile, Oversight Project President Mike Howell told:
“They’re the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They should be investigating and getting this ready for prosecution.”
So far, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the White House have not responded. The FBI, when asked, referred inquiries to Patel’s post on X.
