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Foreign Network Access to U.S. Election Infrastructure — Election Night 2020

Claims that "raw data" shows massive internet traffic from China and Iran connecting directly to U.S. election precincts on the night of November 3, 2020. Proponents argue that American election systems should have zero foreign connections and that documented foreign network access constitutes evidence of a stolen election.

FieldDetails
TopicForeign cyber access to U.S. election infrastructure — November 3, 2020
Countries AllegedChina and Iran
Key Proponents@TheSCIF (X/Twitter, 294K followers); Dennis Montgomery; Mary Fanning; Gen. Thomas McInerney; Mike Lindell
Data Source Claimed"Raw data" — network packet captures or traffic logs allegedly showing foreign IP connections
Official ResponseFBI, DOJ, DHS: "not credible"; CISA: "most secure election ever"; IC assessment: no evidence of foreign vote manipulation
Evidence RatingDEBATED — underlying data disputed; some election systems verified internet-connected; foreign interference in influence operations confirmed

Video​

"Raw data showing MASSIVE internet traffic from China and Iran directly to U.S. election precincts and more the night of the 2020 election. There should be ZERO foreign countries connecting to U.S. election precincts. The 2020 election was stolen." Source: @TheSCIF on X, April 9, 2026. (10,275 likes, 4,890 retweets, 115,843 views)

The Claim​

According to @TheSCIF (The SCIF, 294K followers), raw network traffic data shows "massive" internet connections from China and Iran directly to U.S. election precincts on the night of the 2020 presidential election. The post asserts that no foreign country should have any network access to U.S. election infrastructure, and that this data proves the election was stolen.

The core technical premise: if election systems were internet-connected and foreign government IP addresses were communicating with them during vote counting, this represents either a security breach, active manipulation, or evidence of pre-existing unauthorized access.

Key Figures Behind This Claim​

Dennis Montgomery​

The most prominent specific source of "raw data" showing foreign cyber intrusion to U.S. election systems is Dennis Montgomery, a software contractor who claimed to have built surveillance tools for the NSA and CIA under a program he called "HAMMER." Montgomery provided data to Mike Lindell and others claiming to show Chinese-origin IP traffic targeting American election infrastructure.

Montgomery has a documented history of fraud claims:

  • In 2006, he sold the CIA and Air Force what he claimed was software capable of reading hidden messages in Al Jazeera broadcasts — the program was shut down after experts found it produced false positives
  • Federal courts have found his data to be fabricated in prior litigation
  • Cybersecurity experts commissioned by Lindell himself to analyze the "HAMMER" packet capture data concluded it was not legitimate network traffic data

Mary Fanning and General Thomas McInerney​

Journalist Mary Fanning and retired three-star General Thomas McInerney promoted the "HAMMER and SCORECARD" narrative — the claim that the CIA operated a supercomputer called "HAMMER" with a vote-manipulation tool called "SCORECARD" that could change vote tallies during electronic transmission. Fanning published a book on the subject. McInerney made media appearances including on One America News Network. No official investigation confirmed the existence of these tools, and Dominion Voting Systems denied using election reporting software that could be intercepted in transit.

Mike Lindell​

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell became the primary financier and promoter of the foreign-packet-capture data claims. His documentary Absolute Proof (2021) featured data purporting to show foreign IP intrusions into U.S. election precincts. Independent cybersecurity analysts — including experts Lindell hired — concluded the data was not valid. Dominion Voting Systems sued Lindell for defamation; a trial resulted in a $2.3 million jury verdict against Lindell in October 2024 in a related case involving Eric Coomer. See Dominion Voting Systems and Eric Coomer.

What Is Confirmed: Election Systems Were Internet-Connected​

The premise that election systems should be air-gapped is correct — and it is confirmed that many were not:

  • NBC News (2019) found approximately 35 voting systems in 10 states had been left internet-connected for extended periods, primarily Election Systems & Software (ES&S) equipment
  • The Senate Intelligence Committee's 2019 election security report documented vulnerabilities in election infrastructure management systems
  • CISA acknowledged that some election management systems (not vote tabulators) had internet connectivity for software updates and reporting
  • In 2020, the University of Michigan research team found multiple election-related systems with ongoing internet exposure via Shodan and related network scanning tools

The critical distinction: documented internet connectivity is not the same as documented foreign intrusion. The presence of network-accessible systems establishes a vulnerability; actual exploitation by foreign governments is a separate claim requiring network forensics.

Official Findings​

CISA / DHS / FBI / DOJ Joint Assessment​

The FBI, Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security jointly concluded that claims of foreign network manipulation of the 2020 election results were "not credible." The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) called the 2020 election "the most secure in American history" — a characterization that provoked President Trump to fire CISA Director Christopher Krebs.

Intelligence Community Assessment (March 2021)​

The public IC assessment on foreign threats to the 2020 U.S. federal elections, declassified and released March 2021, found:

  • Russia conducted an influence campaign favoring Trump
  • Iran conducted influence operations seeking to undermine Trump and sow discord
  • China "did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts" to alter the election outcome
  • No foreign government was assessed to have altered vote totals or manipulated election tabulation systems

Note: DNI John Ratcliffe publicly disputed the IC's downplaying of China's role during his tenure. See DNI.

Senate Intelligence Committee​

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee's Volume 5 report on Russia's interference in the 2020 election does not document a Chinese or Iranian packet-level intrusion into vote tabulation systems.

The Counterargument​

  • The "raw data" cited in the primary post — attributed to sources like Dennis Montgomery — was reviewed by independent cybersecurity experts and found to not represent valid packet captures
  • No forensic analysis from a court-ordered or congressionally authorized investigation has confirmed foreign IP traffic manipulating vote tallies
  • CISA conducted post-election assessments and found no evidence that voting systems connected to the internet were exploited to change results
  • The IC's formal position: China did not carry out election interference operations; Iran's operations targeted influence/information, not vote tallies
  • Hand recounts in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona confirmed machine-reported totals within normal margins

What Was Never Independently Verified​

  • No court ordered a full forensic audit of firewall logs and network traffic from election night 2020 across precincts that ran Dominion, ES&S, or Hart InterCivic systems
  • The specific "raw data" @TheSCIF references has not been publicly released in a form verifiable by independent network forensic analysts
  • CISA's post-election assessments did not include full packet capture review of every precinct with documented internet connectivity
  • The question of whether any of the ~35 internet-connected ES&S systems had active foreign connections on election night remains uninvestigated at a forensic level

Sources​

Other Coverage Worth Reading​

  • China & Dominion: Supply Chain Allegations: Chinese-made Dominion components acknowledged by CEO; Dominion patents assigned to HSBC Canada one year before 2020 election.
  • 2020 Antrim County Michigan: ASOG forensic audit found 68.05% error rate; missing adjudication logs; Dominion called "intentionally designed for fraud."
  • DNI: Ratcliffe vs. career analysts — disputed IC conclusions on China's role; post-election declassifications.
  • Dominion Voting Systems: Full profile — 1.55% pro-Democrat vote shift; $787.5M Fox settlement; Serbian dev office; patent assignments.

Last Updated: 2026-04-09 — Created from @TheSCIF X post (2042298431402627403; 10,275 likes, 115,843 views). Video IPFS CID: QmbysKf4nafvb1eQ2qfvTkaLWBbvojiz2AAxfAmTSuz2BE.

This information was compiled by Claude AI research.