Trump Cites CIA Documents Claiming Venezuela Manipulated Elections Through Electronic Voting Systems

The Trump administration has referenced declassified CIA documents alleging that Venezuela engaged in electronic voting system manipulation, reviving unproven claims originally made by a former Venezuelan intelligence official. The allegations center on the electoral technology firm Smartmatic and lack corroborating evidence, according to the company and U.S. intelligence assessments.

Origins of the Allegations

Hugo Carvajal, a former director of Venezuelan military intelligence, transmitted a letter to President Donald Trump in December 2025 containing multiple accusations against the Venezuelan electoral system, the Maduro administration, and Smartmatic. The document, obtained by CNN through Carvajal's legal representative, made assertions without accompanying documentation. Carvajal claimed that Smartmatic functioned as an electoral tool of the Venezuelan government and that voting software could be manipulated, though he did not identify which specific elections were allegedly altered through this method.

The allegations have circulated for years among Trump allies following the 2020 presidential election. A declassified CIA memorandum released in June, however, contained conclusions that U.S. intelligence determined in 2006 that neither Venezuela nor Smartmatic possessed the capability to alter election results outside Venezuelan territory.

Smartmatic's Response and Election History

Smartmatic categorically rejected the accusations. The company reaffirmed that it has never been owned or controlled by the Venezuelan government and stated that no evidence demonstrates its technology was used to alter U.S. elections. During the 2020 presidential election, Smartmatic systems operated only in Los Angeles County, the company noted.

Expanded Claims Without Documentation

Beyond electoral allegations, Carvajal also asserted without evidence that Maduro utilized the criminal organization Tren de Aragua to dispatch criminals, narcotics, and operatives into the United States as part of a deliberate state strategy. He claimed this supposed coordinated effort originated during Hugo Chavez's presidency and evolved into a structure called the Cartel of the Suns, comprising Maduro and other senior officials. These allegations mirror charges currently facing the Venezuelan president in U.S. courts.

Journalist David Alandete of ABC News published images from the declassified CIA report describing alleged Venezuelan state plans to manipulate elections through electronic systems. According to the CIA document, the 2012 presidential election between Hugo Chavez and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles involved alleged collaboration between Venezuelan military counterintelligence, the national intelligence service, and the electoral council to alter results. The plan allegedly involved installing modified equipment at approximately 300 polling locations in traditionally pro-Chavez areas to secure an advantage of roughly 1.5 million votes. Chavez won that election by approximately 1.6 million votes.