China · Axios · Pete Hegseth · Pentagon · Donald Trump · U.S. · Axios
Hegseth directs Defense Dept. to fight foreigners who "meddle" in U.S. elections
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has assigned personnel to use "advanced intelligence and cyber capabilities to identify, disrupt, and neutralize foreign interference" in the upcoming elections, Axios has learned.
Key facts
- After Trump's loss in 2020, Trump allies shared a memo asking the president to use DOD's and NSA's "unprocessed raw signals data" to try to investigate election fraud, according to the Washington Post
- The directive relies on Trump's 2025 order titled "Preserving And Protecting The Integrity Of American Elections" and was also drafted in response to his July speech accusing China of interfering
- The Justice Department has formally asked 30 state election offices to hold on to records connected to the 2024 election as part of ongoing litigation to review election materials
- In January, the FBI seized voter machines used in the 2020 election from Fulton County, Ga., a heavily Democratic-leaning county in a state he lost that year
Summary
The directive relies on Trump's 2025 order titled "Preserving And Protecting The Integrity Of American Elections" and was also drafted in response to his July speech accusing China of interfering in the 2020 election, which China denied. This memo from Hegseth follows a similar effort before the 2022 midterms under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, that directed U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency to "disrupt, deter, and degrade foreign adversaries' ability to interfere with and influence how U.S. citizens vote and how those votes are counted. " The federal government has played an increased role in detecting election threats from foreign governments since 2017, when elections were designated critical infrastructure by DHS.Trump's pick to lead the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, Lt.
The Justice Department has formally asked 30 state election offices to hold on to records connected to the 2024 election as part of ongoing litigation to review election materials. That wasn't the case in 2024, when the technology was newer and the department needed specialized teams for missions like election security, officials said.