In a primetime address, President Trump accused China of obtaining 220 million American voter records in what he called the largest election data breach in history, alleging that intelligence agencies had concealed the breach from the public. Yet the very documents he declassified to support his case contain a 2021 intelligence assessment — produced under his own appointee — finding no evidence that any foreign actor altered voter registrations or election outcomes. The distance between the allegation and the official record invites a deeper question that democracies have long struggled with: