Washington: Senior White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Friday defended President Donald Trump’s renewed focus on election integrity, arguing that newly declassified material had strengthened public concerns about vulnerabilities in the US electoral system and underscored the need for Congress to pass the proposed Save America Act.
A day after Trump’s nationally televised address, Navarro told reporters at the White House that the administration’s objective was not to relitigate the 2020 presidential election but to strengthen safeguards for future polls.
“That’s not what last night was about. What last night was about is protecting future elections,” Navarro said. He argued that the newly released material had prompted Americans to reassess the integrity of the 2020 election, asking whether “the probability that that election was stolen” had risen “because of what came out.”
Navarro outlined what he described as four major issues emerging from the declassified documents.
He first alleged that China had accessed US voter-related data before the 2020 election, saying such activity should raise “deep concerns among the American people.” He argued that obtaining voter information and metadata suggested “mal intent” even though Beijing had denied the allegations.
He also criticised what he described as divisions within the US intelligence community over China’s alleged election activities. Referring to documents released by the administration, Navarro said they showed disagreements that were not reflected in presidential intelligence briefings.
“There was one very chilling comment,” he said, referring to “an FBI agent, who bragged about running a shadow government… to keep key intelligence off the desk of the president.”
Navarro further claimed the documents showed that voting machines were “vulnerable to being used to sway elections” and that such activity “may well be undetectable when that kind of nefarious activity takes place.”
He also pointed to what he said were nearly 300,000 illegal voters identified by the Department of Homeland Security in a limited number of states. He argued that even relatively small numbers could influence closely contested elections.
Using Georgia as an example, Navarro repeated his longstanding criticism of changes to absentee voting procedures during the 2020 election. He said removing signature verification while expanding absentee voting had weakened election safeguards, although he stressed that Thursday night’s presentation “was not to prove anything about the 2020 election.”
“It was basically to look forward of how we can fix things,” he said.
Navarro urged journalists to review the declassified documents posted on the White House website before drawing conclusions.
“I’m astonished that reporters could go out and write authoritative stories… when they literally… didn’t have the time to review the documents,” he said.
When asked whether the allegations involving China could lead to changes in US trade policy, Navarro said the two issues should remain separate.
“I think they’re separate lanes,” he said, adding, “The story… isn’t a story about China. It’s about the American refusal at the political level to safeguard our election system.”
Navarro repeatedly promoted the Save America Act, describing it as legislation that would require voter identification, proof of citizenship and tighter controls on absentee ballots. He said the proposal “checks every box needed to ensure the integrity of our election.”
Responding to criticism from Democrats that Trump’s renewed emphasis on election integrity could undermine confidence in next year’s midterm elections, Navarro dismissed those concerns.
“If you pass the Save America Act… we’ll have a more secure election with integrity,” he said. “Most importantly, the American people will have more faith in the elections and are more likely to vote.”
(IANS)
