Russia-Linked AI Fakes Steal Real Americans' Identities To Target Democratic Senate Candidates Before Midterms

Videos believed to have been created or manipulated using artificial intelligence and linked to a Russian influence network are using real people's names and photos to spread false claims about two Democratic Senate candidates, days before the midterm elections.

One clip targeting Ohio's Sherrod Brown features the photo of a former intern who says the claims attributed to her are 'completely made up'. Another, aimed at Texas candidate James Talarico, is framed as a confession from a former student.

Researchers say both resemble the work of Storm-1516, a Russian operation that targeted Tim Walz in 2024.

Former Intern's Identity Used in Brown Video

The video targeting Brown, who is challenging Republican Senator Jon Husted in Ohio, is presented as a newscast, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday, 28 October 2026. It shows photos of Haya Akbik, who interned for Brown several years ago, and other former members of his staff.

Akbik said the claims attributed to her in the video were false. 'It's my name, it's my reputation, making this allegation, and it's just completely false,' she told the AP. 'And it harms the senator, someone else, in the process.'

She said the episode showed why Congress should regulate 'AI slop on the internet', describing the video as 'so damaging'.

Hany Farid, a Dartmouth College professor who studies AI deepfakes, said his analysis indicated the video was likely generated or manipulated with AI. He described it as a 'fairly low-tech fake'.

Talarico Targeted With Fabricated Video

The second video targets Talarico, the Democratic nominee running against Republican Ken Paxton in Texas's US Senate race. It is framed as a direct-to-camera confession from a man presented as a purported former student of Talarico, who previously worked as a teacher.

Videos posted on 20 October baselessly accused Talarico of sexual assault, with one post drawing more than 1.3 million views, Meduza reported, citing NBC News. Researchers from Graphika, Alethea and Clemson University tied the network behind them to Storm-1516.

The first Talarico video appeared on X from an account created about a month earlier, and was viewed more than 850,000 times in its first 24 hours, the San Antonio Current reported, citing The New York Times. Cyber threat analysts told the Times that three large verified X accounts previously used by Storm-1516 reposted it about 12 hours later.

Farid said the Talarico video was likely AI-generated and 'consistent with previous disinformation campaigns released close to Election Day'.

JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico's campaign, said: 'The most powerful people in the world know they can't beat James Talarico with the truth.' He said opponents were 'slandering him with AI deepfakes, foreign bots, and conspiracy theories' to 'protect their broken, corrupt political system'.

Researchers Point to Russian Network

Darren Linvill, a Clemson University professor and media forensics expert, said the new videos bore similar hallmarks to earlier Storm-1516 content and were likely produced by the same network, according to the AP.

He found that accounts sharing the recent material had also shared earlier Storm-1516 videos. In 2024, Storm-1516 targeted then-Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, spreading similar unfounded allegations against Walz. The group has also been accused of interfering in elections in Germany, Hungary and France, Meduza reported.

X removed the initial posts and suspended the users who shared them for breaking its rules. Copies were still circulating online on Tuesday 27 October, some with hundreds of shares, the AP said.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to the AP's request for comment. It has previously denied interfering in US elections.

Intelligence Warnings Before Polling Day

US officials have warned of a wider campaign. Intelligence officials told The New York Times, on condition of anonymity, that a Russian influence operation was 'attempting to meddle in Texas' US Senate race', according to the San Antonio Current.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner and Representative Jim Himes, who sit on their chambers' intelligence committees, told Politico that 'Russia has mounted an online campaign to discredit candidates for the U.S. Congress'. They cited a classified intelligence report that said Moscow was using AI tools to spread disinformation, Meduza reported.

Separate AI-generated clips featuring deepfakes of Robert De Niro, Julia Roberts and Cher urging Americans not to vote Democratic have circulated since early September. The Bot Blocker project attributed them to a Russian bot network known as Matryoshka, and Bloomberg reported that their view counts had been artificially inflated, according to Meduza.

The lawmakers said Russia could target both Democrats and Republicans who support Ukraine. Intelligence agencies have found no proven Russian attempts to hack election systems or campaign networks, they said.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which has publicly identified some videos as Russian disinformation in previous election cycles, did not respond to the AP's request for comment.