By David Nakamura, The Washington Post (c) 2024
U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday said Russians seeking to disrupt the U.S. elections created and helped amplify fake videos and other false content last week that alleged abusive conduct by Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz.
The content, which included false allegations that Walz had acted inappropriately with students while serving as a teacher and coach in Minneapolis, was widely disseminated on social media, smearing Walz, the Minnesota governor, ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Walz and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, appear in what polls show is a virtual dead heat with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (Ohio).
“Based on newly available intelligence, the intelligence community assesses that Russian influence actors created and amplified content alleging inappropriate activity committed by the Democratic vice-presidential candidate earlier in his career,” an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told reporters in an online background briefing Tuesday. This official and others on the call spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.
“The intelligence community reviewed media associated with this effort and in doing so it revealed several indicators of manipulation that are consistent with the influence efforts and tactics of Russian actors this cycle,” the official said.
Intelligence officials said analysts examined materials associated with the fake content about Walz over the weekend and concluded that the content was consistent with a pattern of Russian disinformation aimed at undermining the Democratic ticket. U.S. intelligence authorities have previously said that Russian influence efforts have been aimed at boosting Trump’s candidacy.
The ODNI official said Russian operatives have sought to use videos in which people speak directly into a camera and seek to make them go viral on social media.
“This type of tactic is consistent with Russian efforts we have previously noted,” the official said.
In one video, a man who identifies himself as “Matthew Metro” and claims to be a former student of Walz’s from decades ago at a high school in Minneapolis speaks into the camera with fabricated allegations of abuse, officials said. Millions of people have viewed the video on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Some of the details matched the biography of the real Matthew Metro, who now lives in Hawaii and said he was not the person in the video, The Washington Post reported this week. Metro, who did attend the high school where Walz was employed, said Walz never taught him and that the allegations in the video were false.
Intelligence officials reiterated that operatives in Russia, Iran and China have been the most active in attempting to sow disinformation related to the U.S. elections and warned that some efforts might grow more pronounced after Election Day. They said that in the period from Nov. 5 to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, Russian influence actors could seek to use disinformation campaigns to foster doubts about the electoral outcome – especially if Trump loses – and potentially try to foment protests or violence. They warned Iran also could be active in trying to stoke violence.
Some foreign actors “will remain committed to trying to undermine American democracy, stoke societal unrest and help their preferred candidate,” the ODNI official said. This person added that such influencers “are better prepared to exploit the post-election period in part because of lessons drawn from the 2020 [election] cycle.”
After losing to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump falsely claimed victory, perpetuated false claims of widespread voter fraud and encouraged supporters to challenge the election results, including an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.