WaPo reports the POTUS is expected to make a televised address tonight in which he will argue that foreign intelligence threats have undermined the security of our elections -- and specifically the one he lost in 2020 -- and that this means the federal government should take over elections which are managed by each individual state. The president has tried to hold up every major recent action by Congress in order to cajole them into approving a new law that would require proof of citizenship and and ID to vote in this year's mid-term elections. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/14/trump-plans-prime-time-speech-2020-election-allegations/ Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) just issued a statement outlining the facts about the 2020 election and the current election infrastructure. I'm pasting part of it here because it's a good resource for anyone following along and for reporters who have to write about this unfortunate chapter in our nation's history. It's also a preemptive rebut to and probably a preview of what we'll hear from the president this evening. "Foreign adversaries routinely seek to influence U.S. elections. They spread disinformation, amplify political divisions, intimidate voters, incite violence, and attempt to undermine Americans’ confidence in democratic institutions. What foreign adversaries have not done, according to repeated public, unclassified assessments from the U.S. Intelligence Community, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and bipartisan state election officials, is alter vote totals, hack voting machines to change election outcomes, or compromise the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. The clearest pattern across recent elections is not successful vote manipulation – it is sustained influence operations, aided and abetted by domestic actors, designed to convince Americans that their elections cannot be trusted. These facts matter because conspiracy theories about stolen elections cannot become a pretext for weakening our democratic system or stripping states and local election officials of their longstanding constitutional role in administering elections. The answer to foreign threats is to strengthen election security, support state and local officials, and combat foreign influence operations – not to “take over” or federalize election administration based on claims that have been repeatedly investigated and debunked. Reporters have a unique responsibility at this moment. The press is the only profession expressly protected by the Constitution because the Founders understood that an informed public depends on a free and independent press willing to separate fact from fiction and hold those in power accountable. Regardless of the source seeking to amplify false narratives about American elections, journalists should approach extraordinary claims with the same rigor they would apply to any other allegation: demand credible evidence, consult the extensive public record, engage subject-matter experts with experience tracking foreign intelligence operations, and provide audiences with the full context of repeated findings from the Intelligence Community, federal cybersecurity officials, bipartisan state election administrators, audits, recounts, and the courts. Careful, evidence-based reporting is one of the strongest defenses against efforts to undermine confidence in American democracy. To that end, we have assembled the following reference guide to help reporters quickly evaluate some of the most common claims about election security against the extensive public record developed by the Intelligence Community, CISA, the FBI, bipartisan state election officials, audits, recounts, and the courts. Claim: China interfered in the 2020 election to help Biden. Facts: Under the leadership of then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, the Intelligence Community assessed that China considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. By contrast, the IC assessed that Russia conducted influence operations aimed at denigrating Biden and supporting Trump, and that Iran conducted efforts to undercut Trump and sow division. The Intelligence Community, Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security all agree that there was no changing of votes or compromise of the integrity of election infrastructure in the 2020 election. Even the Minority View included in the public 2020 Intelligence Community Assessment – which assessed that China may have undertaken some modest influence operations – concurred with the overall IC assessment that there was “no information suggesting China tried to interfere with election processes.” Claim: Venezuela, Dominion, or Smartmatic hacked voting machines. Facts: In November 2020, President Trump’s own CISA, working alongside state and local election officials from both parties, declared the 2020 election “t