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    • Feds check Fake Bucks County vote-rigging video for Russian
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    Feds check Fake Bucks County vote-rigging video for Russian

    Online Niel Posted on

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    Federal authorities believe that a viral video spreading online showing mail-in ballots being destroyed in the key battleground suburb of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, could be a hoax perpetrated by Russia, as part of his covert effort TO help elect former president Donald Trumpa federal official told USA TODAY exclusively on Friday.

    The video shows a stack of sealed mail-in ballot envelopes on a table as an unidentified man proceeds to open them and tear up ballots with votes for former President Donald Trump and return ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris.

    “F— Donald Trump,” the man in the video said repeatedly as he tore up the ballots.

    Bucks County officials said Thursday night that they are aware of a “fake” video that began circulating on social media earlier in the day that purported to show mail-in ballots in Bucks County being opened and destroyed.

    According to the county’s statement, the FBI, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and the Pennsylvania Department of State were also contacted about the video.

    The FBI in Washington did not immediately comment on the video or whether it is investigating.

    The video bears all the hallmarks of a Russian information operation

    But a federal official told USA TODAY that the video bears all the hallmarks of a massive Russian influence operation that has intensified as the election nears to help Trump to victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

    The federal official said that because the video “fits the narrative” of being pushed by Russia, the FBI is taking the lead in investigating its origins with the assistance of U.S. intelligence officials and cyber experts from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. (CISA).

    So far, there is no hard evidence early in the investigation to definitively attribute the fake video to Moscow, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

    US intelligence and law enforcement officials were public warning for months about an unprecedented level of foreign election interference in the Trump vs. Harris. They say that Russia is launching propaganda to in favor of the former president and Iran is making a propaganda effort to defeat him because of his harsh actions against the Islamic Republic.

    Russia was by far the one the most active and aggressive in the contest, U.S. intelligence officials said, including by creating fake videos in which people claim to have been victimized by Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

    A video claims Harris hit and paralyzed a young woman in a hit and run accident in San Francisco. Another alleges that Walz sexually abused her one of his students when he was a teacher in Minnesota.

    Neither claim is true, officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in recent meetings with reporters. But those videos and other Russian influence operations went viral on X, formerly Twitter, and other social media platforms, potentially reaching millions of American voters.

    The federal official told USA TODAY on Friday that authorities believe there are several fake election videos in circulation, in which Russia is filming people pretending to be Americans to fuel pro-Trump and anti-Harris narratives, sow general chaos and to undermine confidence in the US electoral system.

    More: ‘This video is fake’: Pennsylvania officials say viral video of destroyed Trump ballots is a hoax

    Why would Russia want to target Bucks County, Pennsylvania?

    Recent polls show that the presidential race has been a hot one. That makes Pennsylvania — and especially Bucks County, an affluent suburb just outside Philadelphia — a critical area in determining the outcome.

    In both of the last two presidential elections, Montgomery and Bucks counties have gone more ballots in one place than in Philadelphiawhich only accounted for 10% of the 6.1 million votes counted in 2020 and 11.5% of the 6.1 million votes counted in 2020.

    Next to Luzerne County, Bucks County has the narrowest split between Republican and Democratic voters. Republicans make up about 41.6 percent of voters, while Democrats make up about 41 percent of voters, according to voter registration data from earlier this month.

    Both candidates focused heavily on Bucks County and surrounding areas. Last week, Trump worked the fryer at a McDonald’s in Feasterville and later claimed he did so to show he spent.15 minutes longer than Kamala” he works at an iconic fast food chain.

    More: Here’s why Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are coming to the Philly suburbs: We’re purple

    The federal official praised Bucks County officials, Republicans and Democrats alike, for quickly identifying the video as fake and publicly repudiating it.

    Bucks County spokesman James O’Malley said the envelopes shown in the video appear to be glossy, a feature that official ballot envelopes do not have. The secret non-glossy envelopes on the official ballots can be seen in this video from the county posted on YouTube in August, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

    “This type of behavior is intended to sow division and distrust in our election systems and makes a mockery of the people who work incredibly hard to ensure free and fair elections,” said Bob Harvie, Bucks County Commissioner and Chairman Electoral Council. The Courier Times said the electoral board “unequivocally condemns this deliberate spreading of dangerous misinformation”.

    A post on X, formerly Twitter, sharing the two-minute video already had more than 342,000 shares as of 2:40 p.m. Thursday.

    The Bucks County Democratic Committee also released a statement Thursday night denouncing the video.

    “This patently fraudulent and frankly racist video is little more than a despicable attempt by Donald Trump supporters to cast doubt on our mail-in voting system and ultimately the outcome of the presidential election,” said Senator Steve Santarsiero (D). -Bucks) chairman of the county Democratic committee, said.

    The Bucks County Republican Committee was quick to speak out about the video in a post to the group Facebook pagesaying the video is intended to “scare voters and discourage (voters) from using mail-in ballots or on-demand voting that uses the same mail-in voting process.”

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