US intelligence assesses Russian agents behind fake video showing ballot destruction in Pennsylvania

CNN-

US intelligence agencies believe Russian agents were behind a fake video purporting to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that circulated on social media on Thursday .

The Intelligence Community (IC) believes that Russian actors fabricated and amplified a recent video falsely showing an individual tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania, based on information available to the IC and the prior activities of other actors influence, including videos and other disinformation activities,” said a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The agencies said the video was part of an ongoing Russian effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans in the final days of the 2024 campaign.

CNN reported earlier Friday that U.S. investigators suspected Russian agents of being behind the fake video, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

The Board of Elections in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, was quick to debunk the video Thursday. The envelope and documents depicted in this video are clearly not authentic documents owned or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections, the board said in a statement.

The county plays a crucial role in determining whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris will win the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

The video appeared Thursday afternoon on X and was shared by some users as alleged evidence of election fraud.

But the video was concocted by Russian agents, according to Darren Linvill, an expert on Russian disinformation campaigns at Clemson University.

The video was created in the style and manner of many previous videos from a Russian information campaign known as Storm-1516, Linvill told CNN. More importantly, it first appeared from an account that originated Storm's previous stories and regularly shared campaign content, he said.

It's the latest example of alleged foreign influence operations in the final days of the U.S. presidential campaign, as Russia, Iran and China all try to sow doubt about the integrity of the U.S. election, according to intelligence officials. The Iranians have attempted to undermine Trump, while China has largely focused on downhill races.

The same Russian network, Storm-1516, was behind a fake video shared on X this month attempting to defame Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, according to Linvill and Microsoft experts. US intelligence agencies have also attributed this activity to Russia.

Patricia Poprik, chairwoman of the Bucks County Republican Party, told CNN she had been inundated with texts and calls about the video.

We decided to issue a statement because many people were calling us not only from Pennsylvania, Poprik said.

Poprik acknowledged that many Republican voters are already skeptical about the security of mail-in voting, and she wanted to try to reassure them. It just scares voters and that's not what we want, she said, I personally voted by mail. I think it's safe.

The Bucks County GOP's efforts to help debunk the video are notable because they come as other prominent conservative voices across the country have continued to amplify misinformation.

The original post of the video was deleted, but it was constantly reposted on various social media sites on Thursday and Friday.

The network behind the account has been active on social media for years. CNN has identified at least nine other accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Rumble, X, Gettr, Truth Social and Gab, run by the group.

The accounts identified as the source of the video all posted it around the same time, around 3 p.m. ET on Thursday. Many accounts frequently post QAnon conspiracy messages alongside pro-Trump and anti-Harris content.

This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.

CNN's Tim Lister contributed reporting.

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