U.S. officials have confirmed that Russian actors are behind the fake video showing mail-in ballots for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania.
Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a written statement regarding the video, which circulated on social media on October 24 and showed ballots marked for Trump being torn up.
Stating that local election officials have declared the envelopes and materials in the video are "not authentic materials belonging to or distributed by the board," the officials reported that "based on previous activities, including past disinformation efforts by Russian actors, they assess that the fake video showing mailed ballots being torn up in Pennsylvania was created by Russian actors."
SIMILAR ACTIVITIES EXPECTED
The officials emphasized that this action is "part of Russia's broader efforts to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans," and stated that they expect Russia to continue similar disinformation activities in the period leading up to and following the presidential elections to be held in the U.S. on November 5.
Republicans and Democrats have expressed that they are "concerned" about how the video, which they described as "fake," could affect the elections.
News Source: AA
