Russian Disinformation Network Fuels False Arizona Election Fraud Video

A video claiming election fraud in Arizona has been identified by the US intelligence community as a product of Russian influence actors, officials said. The misleading video, which falsely depicts an interview alleging that fake overseas ballots were created and voter rolls altered to benefit Vice President Kamala Harris, was amplified by a group connected to an infamous "troll factory" that targeted the 2016 US presidential election.

In a joint statement released hours before Election Day, the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency detailed how the video was "manufactured and amplified."

They highlighted that the video was created by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, also known as R-FBI. This organization presents itself as a "human rights" group and was featured in a recent CNN investigation focusing on Russian disinformation efforts related to the US electoral process.

The video was disseminated on the social media platform X by R-FBI head Mira Terada. It garnered over 236,000 views before being removed. Terada's X account was later suspended. In the staged video, Terada interviews a purported whistleblower identified as "a former aide" to Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. The interviewee's identity remains obscured, with both face blurring and an AI-generated voice, according to TrueMedia, a deepfake detection tool. Fontes has stated that the allegations presented in the video are false.

Hours before polls opened on November 5, authorities warned that Russia remains the most active threat to US elections. The ODNI, FBI, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency noted that disinformation operations have falsely claimed officials in battleground states plan to fraudulently sway the election's outcome. These efforts pose risks of inciting violence, including against election officials, and are expected to escalate on and after Election Day.

According to the latest ODNI statement, the Arizona video as an example of these disinformation tactics. The Arizona secretary of state called the video's claims "completely false, fake, and fraudulent", the Agence France-Presse and Associated Press reported. Additionally, officials have pointed to another viral video falsely showing mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania, which local election authorities labeled as "fake."

In September, Microsoft's threat analysis center reported that Russian operatives were ramping up disinformation efforts targeting Kamala Harris's campaign. Authorities also expect Iranian-linked operations to spread false content aimed at inciting violence. Tehran and Moscow have denied these allegations in the past.