Fabricated

FBI debunks claims it urged "remote voting" and says reports of voting in prisons were "fabricated"

From CNN's Jeff Winter

The FBI has debunked two videos circulating online that claim the agency issued warnings over terrorist threats at polling sites and reports of voting in swing-state prisons, calling them “fabricated” and “not authentic,” in a statement Tuesday.

“The FBI was made aware of two instances of its name and insignia being misused in promoting false narratives surrounding the election. The first is a fabricated newsclip purporting to be a terrorist warning issued by the FBI. The fabricated newsclip reports falsely that the FBI purportedly stated that Americans should ‘vote remotely’ due to a high terror threat at polling stations. This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling location safety,” the FBI said in a statement.

“Additionally, a fabricated video containing a fabricated FBI press release alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false,” the FBI added.

The video pushing false claims about prison votes shows an FBI watermark and a “Verified” page attributed to the CIA — hallmarks of the Russia-based disinformation network Doppelganger, a CNN analysis found.

“Doppleganger is an ongoing Russian disinformation campaign run by a private company on behalf of the state,” said Darren Linvill, a disinformation expert at Clemson University.

“The campaign employs large numbers of low quality bot accounts supported by paid engagement. A common tactic the accounts employ is to disseminate links to news pages which appear legitimate but are not. It’s high volume, but low impact activity. Research has shown it receives limited organic engagement.”

The FBI has not said who was behind the debunked videos.