Italian military satellites had been used to hack into U.S. voting machines to flip votes from Trump to Joe Biden.

1. What the allegation actually said and where it came from

The theory alleges that employees of Italy’s Leonardo defense contractor used military satellite links and the Italy U.S. embassy to upload software or instructions that changed vote totals on U.S. voting machines, flipping the election to Biden; that narrative was popularized by QAnon‑aligned promoters and social posts amplified into official channels ^{[1] [6] [7]}.

2. The immediate factual holes: arrests, warrants and timing

Reporting shows the narrow factual kernel exploited by the theory: two Leonardo employees were arrested in Italy for computer intrusions dating from 2015–2017, but the 108‑page Italian arrest warrant reviewed by Reuters contains no allegation tying those investigations to the 2020 U.S. election, and the suspects deny involvement in any anti‑Trump plot ^{[2] [8] [9]}.

3. How the claim entered Washington and how officials reacted

Senior Trump aides and allies pushed the story into DOJ and Defense channels: White House staff circulated links and pressured officials to investigate, Mark Meadows and others asked the acting attorney general to look into the matter, and the Department of Defense reported a review after requests from the White House — all of which chronicled attention to the claim but did not produce corroborating evidence ^{[4] [10] [5]}.

4. Independent fact‑checks and cybersecurity findings

Multiple independent fact‑checks and reporting, including Reuters, Snopes and mainstream outlets, concluded there is no evidence that Italian satellites or Leonardo systems were used to alter U.S. vote totals; at the same time, U.S. election security officials, including CISA’s leadership, publicly called the 2020 vote “the most secure in American history” and said there was no evidence voting systems were changed or compromised in the way alleged ^{[2] [3] [2]}.

5. Fringe claims and later variants — why they don’t change the record

After the initial push, further iterations surfaced — including claims from a former intelligence officer and fringe outlets asserting new technical narratives about satellites and server transfers — but these versions have not produced verifiable documentation or independently confirmed technical traces, and media analysts label them continuations of the same debunked Italygate storyline ^{[11] [6] [7]}.

6. Motives, misinformation dynamics and alternative viewpoints

The theory spread in a political context of desperation from those contesting the election outcome; proponents framed partial facts (old arrests, corporate ties) into an extraordinary global conspiracy, while critics and neutral fact‑checkers point out the logical and evidentiary gaps — the sources promoting Italygate ranged from partisan operatives to conspiracy communities and were sometimes amplified by political actors seeking an investigatory foothold ^{[4] [1] [6]}.

7. Conclusion and limits of available public evidence

Based on available reporting and the official documents reviewed by reputable outlets, there is no substantiated evidence that Italian military satellites were used to hack U.S. voting machines to flip votes from Trump to Biden; investigative steps taken by U.S. officials and multiple fact‑checks failed to corroborate the claim ^{[2] [5] [3]}. That conclusion is constrained by reliance on public reporting and released documents; absence of corroboration in those records does not constitute a metaphysical proof that no possible technical attack could ever occur, but it does mean the specific Italygate allegation as stated remains unproven and widely discredited ^{[2] [7]}.