Steven Kramer, a Louisiana Democratic political consultant, has been indicted by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office on 13 charges of felony voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor impersonation of a candidate charges. The charges stem from a fake robocall campaign that Kramer allegedly orchestrated in January 2020, in which thousands of New Hampshire residents received a message asking them not to vote until November. The message imitated President Biden’s voice and urged voters to support Representative Dean Phillips, who was challenging Biden in the Democratic primary.
Kramer has admitted to paying $500 to have the calls sent to voters, claiming that he did so to call attention to the issue of voter suppression. However, Phillips denounced the calls and said that he had no knowledge of Kramer’s plan.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also taken action against Kramer, proposing to fine him $6 million for using an AI-generated deepfake audio recording of Biden’s voice in the robocalls. The FCC also proposed to fine Lingo Telecom $2 million for allegedly transmitting the robocalls.
The use of AI-generated content in political campaigns has raised concerns in Washington, with some senators calling for legislation to address the potential for misinformation and voter manipulation. The FCC has proposed requiring disclosure of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in political ads on radio and TV, but not to prohibit any.
Kramer faces a series of initial court appearances starting on June 14 in Merrimack Superior Court. A lawyer for Kramer could not immediately be identified.
