Fact-check: Did China orchestrate an effort to ‘overthrow our government and the election’?

L. Lin Wood: Says that “China was behind the interference and the effort to overthrow our government and the election, election fraud.”

PolitiFact’s ruling: False

Here’s why: Days before Joe Biden was set to move into the White House, the president-elect’s detractors falsely claimed that China helped put him there.

In a Jan. 18 episode of the conservative Patriotically Correct Radio Show, defamation attorney Lin Wood said election fraud affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election — and a United States adversary is to blame.

“China was behind the interference and the effort to overthrow our government and the election, election fraud,” said Wood, a Donald Trump supporter who was banned from Twitter for promoting conspiracy theories about the election.

A video with the audio clip was posted on Rumble, an alternative to YouTube that’s popular with conservatives. From there it made its way to Facebook, where it was flagged as part of the company’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

In the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration at the Capitol, we’ve seen several claims that China interfered in the election. My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, who recently met with Trump at the White House, told Axios that the country used machines from Dominion Voting Systems to do it.

Those claims are not based in fact.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified their election results, which Congress finalized on Jan. 7. There is no credible evidence that voter fraud affected Biden’s win. 

Here’s how we know that:

• Election officials in every state have said there was no sign of significant voter fraud during the voting process. 
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its election partners called the 2020 election “the most secure in American history.”
• Former Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department uncovered no evidence of widespread fraud.
• Not one of the 62 lawsuits that Trump and his allies filed in state and federal courts proved that voter fraud affected the election outcome.

In Wood’s interview with the Patriotically Correct Radio Show, during which he also falsely claimed that COVID-19 is akin to the flu and a biological weapon, he cited John Ratcliffe, director of national intelligence.

In a Jan. 7 memo, Ratcliffe wrote that a classified assessment recently completed by the intelligence community undersold the extent to which China interfered in the 2020 election. The memo cited a report from Barry Zulauf, analytic ombudsman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — a position tasked with upholding the objectivity of reports from the intelligence community. That report described a “widespread perception in the workforce about politicization” of information about foreign election interference.

Ratcliffe wrote that, in his view, intelligence analysts were treating similar actions from Russia and China differently. But he didn’t “confirm” any reports that China orchestrated voter fraud in the U.S., as Wood claimed.

In a rumor control page on its website, CISA said that bad actors would not be able to change election results without being caught. Dominion, a voting technology company that was targeted by disinformation after the election, said on its website that it has no ties to the Chinese government. A statewide audit and hand recount in Georgia, which used Dominion technology, upheld the original machine vote tally.

We reached out to Wood for a comment, but we haven’t heard back.

His claim is inaccurate. We rate it False.

Sources

Axios, “Dominion sends cease and desist letter to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell,” Jan. 18, 2021

BuzzFeed News, “Trump-Supporting Lawyer Lin Wood Has Been Permanently Banned From Twitter,” Jan. 7, 2021

Dominion Voting Systems, SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: FACTS & RUMORS

Georgia Secretary of State, HISTORIC FIRST STATEWIDE AUDIT OF PAPER BALLOTS UPHOLDS RESULT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Memo from Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Jan. 7, 2021

National Archives, 2020 Electoral College Results

NBC News, “Congress finalizes Biden win, Trump pledges ‘orderly transition’ as Capitol reels from mob assault,” Jan. 7, 2021

Newsweek, “What Is Rumble? The YouTube Alternative ‘Where Conservative Views Won’t Be Discriminated Against,’” Oct. 26, 2020

The New York Times, “Who is Mike Lindell, one of Trump’s last remaining supporters from corporate America?” Jan. 16, 2021

PolitiFact, “Here’s how we know Trump’s repeated claim of a landslide victory is wrong,” Jan. 6, 2021

PolitiFact, “Lie of the Year: Coronavirus downplay and denial,” Dec. 16, 2020

PolitiFact, “No evidence Dominion Voting Systems caused widespread tabulation errors that flipped votes for Biden,” Nov. 13, 2020

Rumble video from the Patriotically Correct Radio Show, Jan. 18, 2021

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, #PROTECT2020 RUMOR VS. REALITY

The Washington Post, “Political appointees, career analysts clashed over assessments of Russian, Chinese interference in 2020 election,” Jan. 8, 2021

The Washington Post, “Read the ombusdman report on politicization of intelligence on foreign election threats,” Jan. 8, 2021

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