Senate Judiciary Committee investigates claims of a Chinese scheme to send fake driver’s licenses for fraudulent ballots in 2020.

Allegations of Foreign Election Interference Under Scrutiny

The Senate Judiciary Committee and the FBI are actively investigating serious allegations that the Chinese Communist Party manufactured fake U.S. driver’s licenses to help individuals cast fraudulent ballots for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The probe follows the declassification of an FBI document at the request of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.

FBI Director Kash Patel declassified and transmitted the document to the committee in late May. The document alleges that, in August 2020, the Chinese government produced a large quantity of fraudulent driver’s licenses for shipment to the U.S., intending to enable Chinese sympathizers to cast illegal votes by mail. According to the document, private user data collected from millions of TikTok accounts was allegedly used to generate these licenses, which incorporated genuine ID numbers and addresses to avoid detection.

Despite the alarming claims, the FBI document itself notes significant limitations. It explicitly states that the information is not finally evaluated intelligence and warns agencies not to take action without prior FBI coordination. The source behind the allegations is described as collaborative but indirect, and the details were reportedly relayed by a sub-source referencing unnamed Chinese government officials.

Senator Grassley is calling for additional documentation from the FBI and demanding further transparency about the report, including the reasons behind its recall for a source re-interview and instructions for the destruction of all prior copies. He seeks detailed records of the follow-up investigation and full clarification on the FBI’s handling of the allegations and compliance with federal record-keeping laws.

Further complicating the matter, the FBI’s recall of the initial report came one day after the then-FBI Director testified to Congress that there was no evidence of coordinated voter fraud. Much of the declassified document remains heavily redacted, and key facts are yet to be corroborated. While Customs and Border Protection reported the seizure of nearly 20,000 counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses—most arriving from China and Hong Kong—there is no direct evidence linking those seizures to the allegations in the FBI report.

FBI and Senate leaders emphasize that the allegations raise national security concerns that merit thorough investigation. As questions over the integrity of U.S. elections and the influence of foreign actors persist, lawmakers continue to press for answers, transparency, and accountability. The probe is ongoing, with findings and official statements pending further review.