A video falsely alleging election fraud in Arizona, which the US intelligence community stated was fabricated by Russian influence actors, gained attention just before Election Day. According to a joint statement from the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the video was designed to mislead viewers about the integrity of the election process.
The video, produced by an organization known as the Foundation to Battle Injustice (R-FBI), falsely portrays an interview with an alleged whistleblower claiming that overseas ballots were fabricated and voter rolls were manipulated to benefit Vice President Kamala Harris. This group, which presents itself as a “human rights” organization, was previously highlighted in a CNN investigation concerning Russian disinformation efforts related to the US election.
The staged interview was shared on the platform X by R-FBI head Mira Terada and reportedly garnered at least 236,000 views before it was taken down. In the video, the alleged whistleblower, whose identity is obscured and voice reportedly AI-generated, makes unfounded claims of election fraud in Arizona, which Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has refuted.
Research conducted by CNN in collaboration with Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub revealed that R-FBI has connections to a Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516, which has ramped up its operations ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. As of late Monday, Terada’s account on X appeared to be suspended, and CNN has reached out to the platform for further comment.
