Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee and a former Army Ranger, called President Trump a liar Wednesday night after Trump delivered a prime-time address from the White House claiming declassified intelligence showed China had stolen 220 million American voter files — and warning that the 2026 midterm elections face “catastrophic” vulnerabilities.
“Donald Trump is lying,” Crow wrote on X. “He is desperately trying to cling to power and distract from his failed presidency. He will not succeed.”
In a video attached to his post, Crow — speaking directly to camera as a member with access to classified intelligence — said the documents Trump released were “cherry-picked” and designed to do “one thing and one thing only: create this notion that elections were stolen, that there was interference that didn’t actually happen.” He pledged to counter the administration’s claims with factual information through Election Day and beyond.
What Trump Said and Released
Trump delivered the address from the East Room of the White House, announcing what he called the “immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure,” according to the White House’s official Election Integrity page, which posted the documents during the speech. The central claim was that China had carried out “what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history — resulting in China’s illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files” over a period of years beginning in the 2020 election cycle. Trump also announced he was directing the ODNI, DOJ, FBI and CIA to investigate how the information was “hidden” and to refer for criminal charges anyone involved in a cover-up.
Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. He argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign, acquired voter data and worked to “undermine my first administration and our 2020 campaign.” He also released documents alleging 278,000 non-citizens are registered to vote in federal elections and cited FBI files describing alleged voter registration fraud in Michigan in 2020.
An early CNN review of the declassified documents found they “largely discuss previously known potential vulnerabilities in the American election system and issues that were included in a 2021 assessment from the U.S. intelligence community,” per CNN’s five takeaways analysis. A 2021 ODNI report declassified under the Biden administration had concluded that the U.S. intelligence community had “no indication that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 election, including voter registrations, casting ballots, vote tabulation or reporting results,” per CNN.
Crow’s Specific Claims as an Intelligence Committee Member
“I’m a member of the Intelligence Committee. I’m a member of the Armed Services Committee. I’m a proud national security Democrat,” Crow said in his video. “I’ve spent my life in defense of this country, in defense of this nation, in defense of our Constitution and our values. I take threats against America and Americans extremely seriously. But I can tell you that what you’re hearing from the president or from this administration is not true. They’re making things up.”
Crow — a retired Army Ranger who served three combat tours — argued that Trump’s selective release of intelligence was designed to discourage voter turnout among people who might vote against Republicans in November. “He doesn’t want Americans to vote. He doesn’t want their voice to be heard. He wants people to stay home because he knows that if people stand up, organize, exercise their right to vote, that they’re gonna repudiate his failed policies and the corruption of this administration,” Crow said in the video.
The Broader Democratic Response
All 24 Democratic governors put out a joint statement after the speech calling Trump’s address an attempt to “intimidate and silence voters.” “It’s deeply alarming that President Trump continues to try to undermine free and fair elections,” the governors said. “No amount of lies and conspiracy theories can change the fact that our country’s elections have repeatedly been proven to be safe and secure.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the SAVE America Act — which Trump renewed his push for in the speech — “dead on arrival in the United States Senate.” The SAVE Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo ID to cast a ballot. It passed the House in February but failed a Senate cloture vote in March, falling short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster.
The Networks’ Decision and Trump’s Reaction
The speech also became a flashpoint over press freedom. NBC declined to air it on its linear broadcast channel. ABC did not carry it on linear television. Both networks made it available on streaming. CBS aired most of it with fact-checking context. Fox News aired it fully but added a disclaimer that it had “not seen the evidence yet” regarding Trump’s claims about electronic voting machines. During the speech itself, Trump threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of ABC and NBC for not carrying it live, saying “fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.”
What Crow Pledged Going Forward
Crow said Wednesday he would continue to speak directly to voters about what intelligence actually shows — and what it does not. “I will today, in this day, going forward, be now in the election and after the election, be talking with all of you about what’s happening, what’s not, and giving you the information that you need to protect your family and to exercise your right to vote,” he said in the video. He referenced his prior official press releases demanding answers from the administration on election security, including letters sent through the House Intelligence Committee.
Crow is up for reelection in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District in November and has positioned himself throughout the 118th Congress as a national security Democrat willing to call out what he describes as the administration’s abuse of intelligence for political purposes — a role that Wednesday’s speech gave him a high-profile opportunity to reprise. CNN’s analysts described the speech as a potential preview of how Trump might try to “undermine the 2026 election” if Republicans face losses in November — exactly the frame Crow was countering in his video response.