FBI: Russians created fake video showing Trump ballots being destroyed

YARDLEY, Pa.-

Russian actors were behind a widely circulated video that falsely depicted ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania, US officials confirmed Friday.

The video had appeared on social media on Thursday but was debunked by local election officials and law enforcement agencies within three hours after members of the public reported it.

US officials said in a statement by the FBI that they believe the video was “manufactured and enhanced” by Russian actors. The officials said it is part of “Moscow’s broader attempt to raise unsubstantiated questions about the integrity of the American elections and fuel division among Americans.”

The information was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The Bucks County Board of Elections on Thursday identified the video as fake, saying the envelope and other materials in the video “are clearly not authentic materials belonging to or distributed by” the board.

The quick knockdown of the staged video showed how election officials have learned to take swift action to combat false narratives over the past four years, since a large group of American voters became suspicious of the 2020 voting process. Yet the detailed impersonation of ballots in the video in a key district in this year’s presidential race, there was a wake-up call that showed how committed foreign actors are to undermining confidence in the American voting process in the critical stretch before voting ends.

The doctored video showed a person sorting ballots that looked like ballots coming from Bucks County. The person, who was black, appeared to tear up the ballots for Trump and leave the ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris alone.

Researchers who closely study Russia’s foreign influence campaigns had previously linked the video to a Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516 or CopyCop. The network has previously shared numerous videos making false claims about Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Darren Linvill, the co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, who closely studies the group, said the user who popularized the Bucks County video on the social platform network, including the first to ever follow his team, in August 2023.

The style and look of the latest video is also consistent with other videos from the network, Linvill said.

The video featured a black actor with a foreign accent — a choice that may have been intentional as a way to stoke existing divisions on the U.S. soil, according to Josephine Lukito, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, who has done research Russian disinformation.

It’s a common strategy in fake videos from Russia, she said.

“It tends to reinforce racism, right?” Lukito said. “There is already a huge discussion going on about immigrants voting illegally or about immigration in general. Russian disinformation is absolutely taking advantage of that.”

After the video was debunked, the X user who popularized the video deleted his original post and shared multiple posts from other accounts, labeling it as fake.

America PAC, a super political action committee founded by billionaire X owner Elon Musk to support Trump in his bid for a second term, was among those who denounced the video – a stark contrast to the misinformation that often spreads on X, often egged on by Musk himself. The PAC declined a request for further comment.

There were several clues that immediately indicated that the Bucks County video was fabricated. For example, Pennsylvania law requires election officials to wait until 7 a.m. ET on Election Day before they can begin processing mail-in ballots and preparing them for counting.

Other tips included the dark green color on the left side of the outer envelopes – it’s actually more of a kel green – and the shine of the inner and outer casings, which are actually a matte finish. Additionally, none of the envelopes in the video had voters’ return addresses written on them.

Complaints from citizens throughout Bucks County and a call from Yardley Borough’s police chief alerted Dist. Atty. Jennifer Schorn that the video circulated online. Schorn attended a preliminary conference Thursday and when she came out she saw the calls pouring in about the video.

“Right at that point we began investigating the video and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was in fact fabricated,” she said in a telephone interview Friday.

Schorn was reluctant to describe how authorities reached their conclusion, citing concerns that subsequent fraudsters could improve their tactics. She said her office has appointed two attorneys to screen fraud allegations and that they will be present “24/7” on Election Day.

Both Republicans and Democrats in the county called the video fake and expressed concern about how it could influence the election.

“To us, this is disinformation designed to scare voters and discourage them from using mail-in ballots or on-demand voting, which use the same mail-in voting process,” the Bucks Republican Committee said County. wrote in a statement. “We have seen dirty, underhanded tactics this year, from defaced signs, letters threatening Trump supporters, and now this video trying to scare Bucks County voters.”

Sen. Steve Santarsiero of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Committee, called the video an attempt to “call into question our vote-by-mail and, ultimately, the outcome of the presidential election.” in a statement.

Officials said they were encouraged by the speed with which this disinformation and some other damaging falsehoods have been uncovered during this election cycle.

“I don’t blame the Americans at all for wanting to be reassured that the system can be trusted,” Schorn said. “I don’t blame that, because unfortunately there are criminal entities that undermine processes. Yesterday I felt reassured. I felt like it worked the way it was supposed to work.”

Goldin, Catalini and Swenson write for the Associated Press.