2 more Russian disinformation videos targeting U.S. election are circulating online, sources say
U.S. officials believe another two fake videos circulating online and publicly identified by the FBI as an attempt to push false election security claims are likely part of a Russia-backed malign influence campaign ahead of Tuesday's presidential election, two sources familiar with the process told CBS News.
The news comes after the FBI said in a statement Saturday that the videos "are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false."
The agency said that one of the videos falsely claims "the FBI has apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud, and the second relates to first gentleman Doug Emhoff."
The FBI in its statement did not say who was behind the videos, and when reached by CBS News, declined to comment further.
It added that the two videos — using Justice Department and FBI signage within them and images of Emhoff — were being circulated as part of "attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI operations."
The FBI did not attribute the creation of the propaganda to any actor.
Saturday's disclosure brings to four the number of fake videos produced and distributed by Russia to mislead the American electorate that have been publicly identified in recent days by the U.S. government.
On Thursday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said a video which purports to show Haitians claiming that they illegally voted for Harris is fake and likely the work of a Russian troll farm.
And in a joint statement Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the intelligence community "assesses that Russian influence actors" manufactured the video.
Another fake video that appears to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania's Bucks County is also fake, both state and federal officials said.
The ODNI, the FBI and the CISA said a statement Friday that "Russian actors manufactured and amplified" that video.
Antibot4Navalny, a team of anonymous volunteers monitoring Russian disinformation efforts, said the videos cited by the FBI match recent footage released by a Russian disinformation group known for impersonating media organizations and U.S. government entities.
The group released 47 fabricated videos this week alone as the presidential election approached, researchers said. Other videos targeted Vice President Kamala Harris, promoted Trump, or sought to erode confidence in election integrity and undermine support for Ukraine.
The videos employ graphics and text to mimic content from U.S. government agencies and international news organizations, including the BBC, Fox News, and Euronews.
In recent weeks, U.S. intelligence and Microsoft have assessed that U.S. adversaries have been conducting influence campaigns to mislead voters in the 2024 election.
Both the U.S. government and Microsoft have said that Russia favors former President Donald Trump, while Iran favors Vice President Kamala Harris.
