Video of alleged Arizona election 'insider' is Russian-linked fake

Misleading allegations about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in unprecedented numbers in advance of the U.S. election. A post (archived here) recently shared on X (formerly Twitter) exemplifies this trend, having amassed over 238,000 views at the time of writing.

The post includes a video featuring an alleged anonymous former aide to Arizona Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes. In the video, the purported aide claims that state officials intend to rig the election in favor of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. He further alleges that votes from overseas will be tampered with to favor Democrats during the counting process. 

However, several aspects of this post indicate that the video is not genuine.

Context

The video appears to be an online interview with a man whose face is blurred to maintain his "condition of anonymity." 

The interviewer and author of the post is Mira Terada, also known as Oksana Vovk. She is the president of the Russian Foundation to Battle Injustice (R-FBI), a group founded in 2021 by former Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. R-FBI positions itself as a "human rights" organization, though it plays a central role in disseminating Russian disinformation, according to an analysis from Clemson University, published on October 28, 2024. 

Clemson University states that R-FBI has close ties to Storm-1516—an entity known for producing staged videos and deepfakes that support Kremlin narratives. 

Speaking to Logically Facts, Darren L. Linvill, a professor at Clemson University and co-author of the Clemson University report, says, "Terada's organization is responsible for disseminating Storm-1516 disinformation narratives, a campaign that has been extremely successful, especially in influencing conversations around the war in Ukraine."

Together, R-FBI and Storm-1516 are leading a growing network of misinformation efforts. Recently, for example, the network has targeted Kamala Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, with baseless accusations that he sexually assaulted a student. 

Closer look

While listening to the alleged informant's words, we noticed his voice sounded unnatural, with awkward pauses and odd pronunciation of names and specific terms—a pattern commonly associated with AI-generated audio. The voice is unusually clear, which is atypical for video calls. No background sounds or other noises are detectable.

Eventually, the phrase "the harder it will be for them to fraud" sounds unnatural to native English speakers, suggesting it may have been spoken or written by someone who is not fluent in English.

TrueMedia.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, authenticity-checking platform,  also found evidence that the audio in this video was artificially generated.

The authenticity-checking platform TrueMedia.org also found evidence that the audio in this video was artificially generated. (Source: TrueMedia.org, screenshot)

Tara Reade also reposted Terada's publication. Reade, a former Senate staffer who accused Joe Biden of sexual harassment in 2020, defected to Russia in 2023 and now contributes to the Russian state news organization RT. Over the past year, Reade has shared narratives from Storm-1516 on her X profile 32 times, and her image has appeared on the R-FBI website six times, according to Clemson University's findings.

CNN and Clemson University found that since August 2023, Storm-1516 and R-FBI have propagated at least 54 disinformation narratives online, including those related to the U.S. elections. None of these stories is supported by credible evidence. 

Professor Linvill labeled Mira Terada as "a part of Prigozhin's legacy of disinformation," emphasizing that the authorship of this publication alone suggests it is unreliable and likely a part of Russian propaganda.

The verdict

The video's audio appears to be artificially generated, as confirmed by both human analysis and specialized software. The claim's originator is a Russian propagandist who leads a network dedicated to spreading disinformation and fake news about U.S. elections and Democratic politicians. 

Consequently, we have labeled the claim as fake.

Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.