Liam Conner
The political consultant who admitted for orchestrating a fake robocall impersonating President Biden before the New Hampshire Democratic primary earlier this year was indicted on 26 counts in the state and fined $6 million by the Federal Communications Commission.
The New Hampshire Attorney General announced Thursday that Steve Kramer has been indicted on 13 felony counts of voter suppression and bribery and 13 counts of impersonating a candidate in multiple state jurisdictions, and in addition Kramer has been fined $6 million by FCC for illegal robocalls.
In a recording of the call obtained by CBS News, a voice that sounds like Mr. Biden tells Democratic voters in the Granite State to “save” their vote for the November general election and to stay home.
“Voting this Tuesday only allows Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again,” says the voice. “Your vote makes a difference this November, not this Tuesday.”
It was the first time that “deepfake” technology was intertwined with a U.S. election, and this week, the U.S. intelligence agencies warned about the threat of generative AI in November in a bulletin obtained by CBS News.
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Kramer is accused of orchestrating the robocall. On a interview with CBS New York, Kramer said he wanted to draw attention to the need for federal and state regulation on the use of artificial intelligence in politics, adding that he spent $500 creating the fake Biden voice. About 5,000 people received the call, according to Kramer.
“For me to do this and get $5 million in exposure – not for me, I stayed anonymous – so that the regulations could be enforced or at least begin to be enforced, I don’t need to be famous. That is 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 allegation.
Following the call, the Federal Communications Commission announced a unanimous decision in early February that made AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal. O The FCC also separately fined Lingo Telecomthe originating provider of Kramer’s alleged calls, $2 million for “apparently violating the FCC’s caller ID authentication rules.”
On a interview with NBC Newsa New Orleans magician said he created the robocall, and additional reporting from the network showed that creating the call took less than 20 minutes and cost just $1 to make.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement that he hopes the charges “send a strong deterrent signal to anyone who might consider interfering in elections, whether through the use of artificial intelligence or otherwise.”
In January, a spokesman for Congressman Dean Phillips, who was leading 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 a report from NBC 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.
