US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the declassification of intelligence documents that he said reveal the largest Chinese cyber operation targeting voter data in US history.

Addressing the nation from the White House, Trump claimed the newly declassified files show that starting with the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out a massive compromise of election data, resulting in the illicit acquisition of the records of 220 million American voters.

According to newly declassified documents, the breach targeted highly sensitive voter registration directories, including names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and political party affiliations.

The intelligence reports indicate that a specialized foreign unit was established to exploit the stolen data to engage in malicious activities.

The US president pointed out that CIA reports indicated that the Chinese Communist Party had adopted a policy since 2018 aimed at using all internal and external elements opposed to the then-President Trump to reduce the number of votes supporting him and prevent his re-election.

Trump accused certain domestic intelligence officials of deliberately downplaying and concealing the scale of the Chinese interference from the President, Congress, and the American public.

In response, Trump directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI, and the CIA to launch an immediate investigation into the alleged cover-up, remove compromised officials, and pursue criminal charges where appropriate.