Russians behind fake elections video in an attempt to spread election disinformation, feds say

ATLANTA — A federal investigation has found that “Russian influence actors” are the source of a fake video showing alleged voter fraud in Georgia.

The 20-second video shows a man who described himself as a Haitian immigrant with U.S. citizenship saying he planned on voting multiple times in Fulton County and Gwinnett County with purported Georgia IDs.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger released a statement on Thursday night, calling the video “obviously fake” and that it was meant to “sow discord and chaos on the eve of the election.”

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed in a joint statement with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI that the video was the product of Russia.

“The IC assesses that Russian influence actors manufactured a recent video that falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple counties in Georgia. This judgment is based on information available to the IC and prior activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities. The Georgia Secretary of State has already refuted the video’s claims as false.”

The federal agencies said another video “falsely accused” someone associated with Vice President Kamala Harris’s ticket of taking bribes.

“This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans, as detailed in prior ODNI election updates,” the statement continues. “In the lead up to election day and in the weeks and months after, the IC expects Russia to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans.”

The Associated Press reports that the original video is no longer available, but copycat versions have been widely shared.

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