US intelligence agencies reveal a foreign-produced disinformation video ahead of the 2024 election

ATLANTA – A video circulating online purporting to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia IDs who allegedly claimed to have voted multiple times was created by foreign actors, U.S. intelligence officials reported Friday.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which have stopped monitoring external influences on the 2024 presidential election, have released a joint statement on this Video.

“The IC understands that Russian influencers recently produced a video that falsely portrayed individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in several Georgia counties. “This ruling is based on information available to the IC and previous activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities, which have already rejected the video’s claims as false,” the statement said.

The statement went on to say that Russian influencers also produced a video in which they falsely accused an individual associated with the Democratic presidential nomination of accepting bribes from a U.S. entertainer. Authorities say these activities are part of Moscow's broader strategy to question the integrity of U.S. elections and sow discord among American citizens.

“In the lead-up to Election Day and in the weeks and months following, the IC expects Russia to create and publish additional media content aimed at undermining confidence in the integrity of the election and dividing Americans,” the statement concluded .

In a firm response, Raffensperger wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: “The Russians picked the wrong Georgians to mess with.”

Georgian Foreign Minister responds to a Russian video

In a strong response, Georgia Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: “The Russians picked the wrong Georgians to mess with.”

Gabe Sterling, a senior election official in Georgia, reiterated the results and said federal authorities had confirmed the video's origins as part of a Russian disinformation operation. “Everyone who shares it now knows this,” Sterling added.

On Thursday evening, he also responded to X calling the video “false” and describing it as part of a “targeted disinformation campaign” aimed at disrupting the election.

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

He also made a direct appeal to social media leaders, including Elon Musk, to remove the video from their platforms.

“We ask Elon Musk and the leadership of other social media platforms to remove this. This is obviously a fake and part of a disinformation effort,” he said, expressing his belief that the video could be the work of Russian troll farms.

Raffensperger stressed the importance of national unity and urged the public not to allow misinformation to undermine trust. “As Americans, we cannot allow our enemies to use lies to divide us and undermine our trust in our institutions – or in each other,” he said.

As of Friday, when early voting ended, more than half of Georgia's eligible voters had already cast their ballots in the 2024 presidential election.