CNN —
U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Russian operatives were behind a fake video that circulated on social media on Thursday that showed someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
“The IC (Intelligence Community), judging from the information available to the IC and previous activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation operations, has determined that the “We assess that Russian actors created and amplified recent videos that falsely depict individuals abandoning their homes,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement.
Officials say the video is part of Russia’s continued efforts to “raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans” in the final days of the 2024 campaign. said.
CNN reported early Friday that U.S. law enforcement officials suspect Russian operatives are behind the fake video, according to two sources briefed on the matter.
The Bucks County Board of Elections in North Philadelphia quickly debunked the video on Thursday. “It is clear that the envelopes and materials seen in this video are not authentic materials owned or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections,” the commission said in a statement.
The county is crucial in determining whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
The video was posted on X on Thursday afternoon and was shared by some users as alleged evidence of voter fraud.
But Darren Linville, an expert on Russian disinformation campaigns at Clemson University, said the video was hacked by Russian operatives.
The video was “produced in the style and manner of many previous videos” from the Russian information campaign known as Storm-1516, Linville told CNN. “More importantly, this is the first time it has emerged from an account that previously told the Storm story and regularly shared campaign content,” he said.
Intelligence officials said it was the latest example of a suspected foreign influence operation in the final stages of the U.S. presidential campaign, as Russia, Iran and China seek to cast doubt on the integrity of the U.S. election. Russian operatives are trying to smear Harris’ campaign, Iranians are trying to undermine Trump’s campaign, while China is primarily focused on the down-ballot race.
Linville and Microsoft experts say the same Russian network, Storm-1516, was behind a fake video shared on X this month that attempted to smear Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. U.S. intelligence agencies also attribute this activity to Russia.
Patricia Poplik, chair of the Bucks County Republican Party, told CNN she has been flooded with emails and phone calls about the video.
“We decided to make a statement because so many people, not just in Pennsylvania, called us,” Poplik said.
Popryk acknowledged that many Republican voters were already skeptical about whether voting by mail was safe and wanted to reassure them. “That just scares voters, and that’s not what we want,” she said. “I personally voted by mail and I believe it is safe.”
The Bucks County Republican Party’s efforts to help debunk this video are noteworthy because they come as other prominent conservative voices across the country continue to amplify the misinformation. .
The original post of the video was deleted, but it continued to be reposted on various social media sites on Thursday and Friday.
The network behind this account has been active on social media for many years. CNN has identified at least nine other accounts operated by the group on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Rumble, X, Gettr, Truth Social, and Gab.
The accounts identified as the sources of the videos all posted the videos at approximately the same time, around 3pm ET on Thursday. Many of the accounts frequently push QAnon conspiracy messages alongside pro-Trump and anti-Harris content.
This heading and article have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Tim Lister contributed reporting.
