US spy agencies issue new warning about Russian election misinformation campaign

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia is behind two new fake videos that surfaced on social media this week that falsely claim Haitians voted illegally in Georgia and that Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband were shot by actor Sean Combs Received a bribe of $500,000.

The U.S. government issued a new warning about the fraud on Friday, a week after it blamed Russia for another video that falsely claimed ballots were being destroyed in Pennsylvania.

Officials say foreign powers are working to undermine confidence in the election, and government agencies in charge of protecting the vote next Tuesday said the current spate of false claims is greater than before. A senior official at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency called it a “firehose of disinformation.”

The agency, along with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI, released a statement Friday attributing both videos to Russia's efforts to influence voters in the election and fuel partisan divisions.

They are examples, the senior official added, of how foreign influence operations “intentionally undermined the American public's trust in American democracy.”

After the video on Thursday

“This is false and an example of the targeted disinformation we saw in this election,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “It is likely foreign interference seeking to sow discord and chaos on the eve of the election.”

Both videos were shared on The account appears to belong to a man in Massachusetts who did not respond to requests for comment.

According to X's public count, the videos received hundreds of thousands of views. The film about voting in Georgia showed a man who claimed to be a Haitian immigrant who arrived in the United States six months ago and was granted citizenship and identification papers.

“We’re voting for Kamala Harris,” the man says. “Yesterday we voted in Gwinnett County, and today we vote in Fulton County.”

He then shows several ID cards that look like Georgia driver's licenses and calls on “all Haitians to come to America.” A closer examination revealed that a photo on an ID card was a stock photo. The address on the map led to an office park in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Social media users also shared the video on a group channel on X created by Elon Musk's political action committee to collect allegations of election fraud.

The government's statement only briefly mentioned the second video and said it involved allegations of bribery of a Democratic candidate by an entertainer.

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center and Darren L. Linvill, professor and director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, said the invention involved Mr. Combs, known as Diddy or Puff Daddy, and that it first appeared on a fake American The Patriot Voice news agency has been linked to Russian disinformation campaigns.

Mr. Linvill said the videos were productions of a Russian operation known to researchers as Storm-1516, a group that distributed a variety of videos to sow distrust in the election. For example, a video made earlier this year falsely accused the CIA of setting up a troll farm in Ukraine to boost President Biden and the Democrats.

“The style and production values ​​of the videos are exactly in line with what we have seen from them before,” said Mr. Linvill about the latest videos.

Mr. Raffensperger said he had asked Mr. Musk, the owner of X, to remove the false video about Georgia from the social media platform. This post is no longer available.

Alpha Fox's other post, which has been viewed 2.5 million times, is still online, along with a thread containing the video. In it, a person whose face is blurred and whose voice is changed sits in a car and describes the false accusations.

As this year's election reaches its climax, officials have sought to act quickly to stamp out blatantly false narratives, although those involving voter fraud or irregularities often go viral.

Last week, a Russian disinformation group created and distributed a video that falsely suggested that ballots had been destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Local election officials quickly declared it a fraud, while federal intelligence officials described it as the work of the Russians.

False claims of voting irregularities have proven to be harder to spread, in part because they are much easier to refute than unclear claims about a candidate's past.

As the Bucks County video made clear, Russian disinformation groups have begun to target their content toward voting behavior. Friday's government statement said the videos were part of “Moscow's broader efforts to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans.”

Intelligence officials said Russia favors former President Donald J. Trump. His skepticism about offering military support to Ukraine, which Russia invaded nearly three years ago, and his promise to force peace talks have raised the stakes for Russia in the election, officials say.

Although there are two high-profile examples of Russians trying to undermine confidence in the election, Clint Watts, the head of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center, said that overall there appears to be less disinformation about voting irregularities at this point than in previous election cycles. That may reflect a calculation that Mr. Trump could win and that highlighting irregularities could tarnish his victory.

“They don’t want to undermine an election where they might get the result they want,” Watts said. “Maybe they’ll be a little more reserved this time.”

The latest series of videos suggests it may be gaining traction.

NewsGuard, a company that tracks disinformation, also published a series of posts on Telegram, YouTube and X on Friday claiming that those using voting machines in Kentucky should not vote for Mr. Trump. The false reports apparently stemmed from a misleading report about a woman who was having problems with a touchscreen.

Microsoft expects Russian disinformation groups to move quickly to create more content if the election is contested. US intelligence agencies have also predicted that Russia and Iran could try to foment post-election protests and even violence if Mr Trump is defeated or the election is too close to being called.

Russia could undermine public confidence in the vote by either making false claims or increasing Americans' concerns about possible voting irregularities.

In recent months, intelligence officials have also said that Iran has tried to intervene and favor Ms. Harris, even as it has broadly sought to stoke political divisions and unrest. Iran-backed hackers have taken information from the Trump campaign and attempted to spread it. US intelligence agencies have been tracking a possible Iranian plot to assassinate Mr Trump.

Ms. Harris has spoken out strongly against Iran, calling it the biggest threat to the United States. And the Biden administration has warned Iran that any plot against Mr. Trump or any attempt to assassinate him would be considered an act of war.

“If Iran is not sure what it will achieve with either candidate, why should it support either candidate because that puts it in a difficult position after the election,” Mr Watts said. “I’m not sure they’re confident they’re going to get what they want.”