Russians Behind Fake Election Video: US Intelligence Officials

The homepage of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency website in a file photo. Tada Images/Shutterstock

Russian actors made a video that’s been circulating that purportedly shows people from another country illegally voting in the United States, U.S. intelligence officials said on Nov. 1.

The intelligence community (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,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said earlier this week that the video in question, which went viral on the social media platform X, constituted disinformation.

“It is likely foreign interference attempting to sow discord and chaos on the eve of the eve of the 2024 Presidential election,” Raffensperger said.

Raffensperger said Russians were likely behind the effort.

Intelligence officials said that the assessment of Russians being behind the video was “based on information available to the IC and prior activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities.” They did not provide additional details.

The intelligence agencies also said that Russians produced a different video that falsely accuses a person linked with the Democrat presidential ticket, comprising Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, of taking a bribe from an American entertainer.

“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 American,” the officials said, adding that they expect Russians to make additional videos and release them either before or shortly after the Nov. 5 election.

Intelligence officials previously blamed a third video, which depicted a person ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania, on Russian actors.

Other Russian operations have created websites designed to look like legitimate news websites and fake social media accounts on a large scale, including some that purported to be U.S. citizens and directed people to the fake news sites.

Several other countries, including Iran and China, have also engaged in similar efforts, according to the FBI and other U.S. agencies.

“Our foreign adversaries are looking to attack our democratic process to further their own objectives, and we need the help of all Americans in ensuring they are not successful,” Cait Conley, a senior adviser at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a recent statement.

“There has been incredible effort across local, state and federal governments to ensure the security and integrity of our nation’s election infrastructure. Americans should be confident that their votes will be counted as cast. They should also know that our foreign adversaries will try to make them believe otherwise.”