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Political consultant allegedly behind fake Biden robocall indicted
The political consultant who admitted to orchestrating a fake robocall impersonating President Biden ahead of New Hampshire’s Democratic primary earlier this year has been indicted on 26 charges in the state and fined $6 million by the Federal Communications Commission.
New Hampshire’s attorney general announced Thursday that Steve Kramer was indicted on 13 felony counts of voter suppression and bribery and 13 counts of impersonation of a candidate in multiple state jurisdictions, and additionally Kramer was fined $6 million by the FCC for the illegal robocalls.
In a recording of the call obtained by CBS News, a voice that sounds like Mr. Biden’s tells Democratic Granite State voters to “save” their vote for the November general election and to stay at home.
“Voting this Tuesday only enables Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again,” the voice says. “Your vote makes a difference this November, not this Tuesday.”
It was the first time that “deepfake” technology became intertwined with a U.S. election, and this week, U.S. intelligence agencies warned about the threat of generative AI heading into November in a bulletin obtained by CBS News.
AP
Kramer is accused of orchestrating the robocall. In an interview with CBS New York, Kramer said he wanted to call attention to the need for federal and state regulation on the use of artificial intelligence in politics, adding that he spent $500 in creating the fake Biden voice. About 5,000 people received the call, according to Kramer.
“For me to do that and get $5 million worth of exposure — not for me, I kept myself anonymous — so that the regulations could just play themselves out or at least begin to play themselves out, I don’t need to be famous. That’s not my intention. My intention was to make a difference,” Steve Kramer told CBS New York.
CBS News has reached out to Kramer for comment on the indictment.
After the call, the Federal Communications Commission announced a unanimous ruling in early February that made AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal. The FCC also separately fined Lingo Telecom, the originating provider of Kramer’s alleged calls, $2 million for “apparently violating the FCC’s caller ID authentication rules.”
In an interview with NBC News, a New Orleans magician said he created the robocall, and further reporting by the network showed that the creation of the call took less than 20 minutes and cost only $1 to make.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement that he hoped the indictments will “send a strong deterrent signal to anyone who might consider interfering with elections, whether through the use of artificial intelligence or otherwise.”
In January, a spokesperson for Congressman Dean Phillips, who was primarying Mr. Biden for the Democratic nomination and spent most of his time campaigning in New Hampshire, said the campaign had no involvement with the robocall. After an NBC report detailed Kramer’s work for the Phillips campaign assisting with ballot access, a spokesperson said Kramer created the call “of his own volition” and said they “absolutely denounce his actions.”
Phillips did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. and Panama signed an agreement on Monday that will allow American officials to help the Panamanian government deport migrants who cross the Darién Gap, a once-impenetrable jungle that has become a popular transit point for those traveling to the U.S. southern border.
Under the joint initiative, U.S. immigration officials will train and provide assistance to Panamanian authorities to help them carry out more deportations of migrants heading north. In recent years, Panama has reported record numbers of crossings along the roadless Darién jungle, including over half a million in 2023 alone.
The Department of Homeland Security will be dispatching officials who have experience screening asylum claims and deporting migrants to Panama so they can assist their Panamanian counterparts on the ground. Using State Department funds, the U.S. will also help Panama build up its deportation infrastructure.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who attended the inauguration of Panama’s President-elect José Raúl Mulino on Monday, said the agreement is part of “a regional response” to migration.
“As the United States continues to secure our borders and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain, we are grateful for our partnership with Panama to manage the historic levels of migration across the Western Hemisphere,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images
Mulino has vowed to take a tough stance against migrant arrivals in Panama, pledging to “close” the Darién Gap and accusing international aid workers of facilitating illegal migration.
The arrangement between the two countries had been months in the making. CBS News first reported on the Biden administration’s plans to send U.S. immigration officials to Panama in November.
The move is the latest action taken by the Biden administration to stem illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border. Last month, following President Biden’s move to partially shut down asylum processing using his executive authority, unlawful border crossings fell to the lowest level recorded during his administration.
The agreement also underscores how much the U.S. — under Democratic and Republican administrations — has come to rely on other countries to reduce migrant crossings along its southern border.
Over the past few months, Mexican officials have conducted an aggressive operation to stop migrants from reaching northern Mexico. Ecuador also recently imposed visa requirements for Chinese migrants, who were using the South American country as a lily pad to get to the U.S. border.
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