Top Democratic lawmakers seek information on Chinese meddling in US polls

Three top Democratic lawmakers, including Indian origin Senator Kamala Harris, have sought information from the government on President Donald Trump's allegation of Chinese efforts to meddle in US elections.

In a letter to the Director of National Intelligence, Daniel Coats, the senators -- Ron Wyden, Martin Heinrich and Harris -- asked whether the US intelligence supports Trump's claims that China interfered in the 2016 presidential elections.

The senators are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

he letter follows up on a previous October 4 communication in which the three senators had inquired whether the president's statement that China was attempting to interfere in the upcoming 2018 mid-term polls was consistent with the assessments of the Intelligence Community (IC).

In addition to providing a public response to that inquiry, we ask that you address whether the President's statement on 60 Minutes that China meddled in the 2016 US election is consistent with IC assessments, the Senators said.

Last month, at an UN Security Council meeting, Trump had alleged that China was trying to interfere in the US elections.

Days later Vice President Mike Pence gave a major foreign policy speech on China in which he alleged that Beijing does not want Trump to be the president and it is using various platforms, including newspaper advertisements, to campaign against Trump's policies.

China has denied the allegations.