(NewsNation) — Congressman Joseph Morelle, D-N.Y., sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a robocall that used artificial intelligence to mimic President Joe Biden’s voice and urged voters not to show up in New Hampshire’s Tuesday primary.
A recording of the call reviewed by NewsNation generates a voice similar to Biden’s, stating, “We’ll need your help in electing Democrats up and down the ticket. Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again.”
In his letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Morelle said he is deeply concerned about the effects AI could have on the upcoming elections.
He asked the DOJ to look into the incident ahead of Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary in the Granite State, and to ensure the responsible parties are held accountable. He said he hopes the probe could help to prevent the spread of “AI-generated mis-and disinformation in future elections.”
Attorney General John Formella said the recorded message, which was sent to multiple voters Sunday, appears to be an illegal attempt to disrupt and suppress voting. He added that his office is investigating and asking voters to disregard the message.
“Voting in the New Hampshire presidential primary election does not preclude a voter from additionally voting in the November general election. Recipients of this message are additionally encouraged to send an e-mail to the DOJ election law unit with details about the call,” Formella said.
NewsNation spoke to New Hampshire voter Gail Huntley who received the robocall.
“I’m appalled by it and amazed at the lengths, at the infinite depths they will go to. I wasn’t surprised though things are so absolutely screwed up anyways,” Huntley said.
Biden is not campaigning in New Hampshire and his name will not appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot after he elevated South Carolina to the lead-off position for the Democratic primaries. His name was left off the ballot due to a disagreement over the state and the DNC, which voted to move New Hampshire out of its “first of the nation” position. As a result, voters will have to write in Biden’s name.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Monday that the call “was indeed fake and not recorded by the president.”
“The president has been clear that there are risks associated with deep fakes, fake images and misinformation can be exacerbated by emerging technologies, and that’s why this president has directed the Department of Commerce through the AI Safety Institute at NIST (U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute) to help develop clear watermarking and content standards. so that’s important,” Jean-Pierre said.
It’s not known who is behind the calls, though they falsely showed up to recipients as coming from the personal cellphone number of Kathy Sullivan, a former state Democratic Party chair who helps run Granite for America, a super-PAC supporting the Biden write-in campaign.
