FBI debunks video that falsifies terrorist threat at polling stations

On November 6, 2024By Littum

WASHINGTON — The FBI warned Tuesday about a fake news video purporting to be an FBI alert telling Americans to “vote remotely” because of a “high terrorist threat” at the polls — and another falsely claiming that a political party has cheated the votes of prison inmates.

In a statement released to USA TODAY, the FBI said it was made aware of “two instances of its name and insignia being misused to promote false narratives surrounding the election.”

The first, the FBI said, is a “fabricated news clip purporting to be a terrorist alert issued by the FBI.”

The fake news clip falsely reports that the FBI allegedly stated that Americans should “vote remotely” due to the high threat of terrorism at the polls. “This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling place security,” the FBI said.

Another fabricated video circulating online contains a fake FBI press release alleging that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona manipulated prison elections and colluded with a political party. “This video is also not authentic and its content is false,” the FBI said.

The FBI did not say who it believed was behind the fake videos and declined to provide additional information.

But in a joint statement released late Mondaywarned the FBI and other US election security agencies that Russia was stepping up its efforts “to undermine public confidence in the integrity of US elections and inflame divisions among Americans.”

The U.S. intelligence community “expects that these activities will intensify through Election Day and in the coming weeks, and that narratives of foreign influence will focus on swing states,” said the statement from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI and the U.S. Secret Service). . Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.

“These efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials,” the statement said. “We expect Russian actors to release additional manufactured content with these themes throughout Election Day and in the days and weeks after polls close.”

In one case, for example, “Russian influencers” recently posted and amplified an article falsely claiming that U.S. officials across swing states are planning to orchestrate election fraud using a variety of tactics, such as ballot manipulation and cyberattacks,” the intelligence agencies said .

Foreign adversaries sow partisan divisions and undermine trust

Cait Conley, the top election security official at CISA, also had no comment on whether Russia or any other foreign adversary was behind the fake videos.

But, Conley said during a press briefing, “I think it’s important, even though there’s no attribution in the (FBI) statement, just to remember the broader threat environment that we’re in, and that’s that we have foreign opponents with two goals; one is to undermine the confidence of the American people in our democratic institutions, and the other is to sow partisan division.”

“And so we should expect to continue to see narratives around those kinds of goals, both today and in the coming days and weeks,” Conley said.

For the most part, foreign and domestic interference in Tuesday’s election was minor and consisted of isolated events, said Conley, senior adviser to CISA director Jen Easterly. She said CISA is currently not tracking any incidents of “national significance” that could affect the vote or the outcome of the election.

“It’s really important to note that election officials prepare year-round for these types of disruptive events,” including the need to temporarily close a polling place, relocate operations or respond to other emergencies, Conley said. “These are things that election officials routinely prepare and train for and are prepared to implement.”

The FBI’s warning on Tuesday was the latest of several in recent days from US intelligence, law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies about efforts by foreign and domestic adversaries to post disinformation online to influence voters.

Much of that disinformation, the agencies said, comes from Russia as part of its campaign to boost former President Donald Trump’s chances of winning the election and to wear down his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

American intelligence services confirmed Friday they believe Russia is behind a fake but viral video of a man claiming to be a recent Haitian immigrant saying he and a friend voted—twice—in Georgia for Kamala Harris.

“The IC assesses that Russian influencers produced a recent video that falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti voting illegally in several Georgia counties,” the agencies said in a statement.

In the earlier joint statement, ODNI and CISA said they believed Russian influencers also produced a video that falsely accused a person associated with the Democratic presidential ticket of accepting bribes from an American entertainer. They didn’t provide details, but the site that originally shared the fake Georgia video was behind an Oct. 30 post on X that falsely claimed Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff had tipped off now-indicted music producer Sean “Diddy” coming to a Department of Homeland Security raid in March in exchange for $500,000.