CNN
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New Hampshire prosecutors filed felony fees in opposition to the political marketing consultant behind a robocall that used synthetic intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden and urged voters to not take part within the state’s major this yr.
Steve Kramer was named in a number of indictments in numerous counties, in keeping with courtroom paperwork obtained by CNN. He faces a number of fees of felony voter intimidation or suppression. He additionally faces not less than one depend of impersonating a candidate, in keeping with the courtroom paperwork.
The indictments alleged that Kramer “despatched or triggered to be despatched a pre-recorded telephone message that disguised the supply of the decision, or was misleading in utilizing an artificially created voice of a candidate, or offered deceptive info, in trying to stop or deter” voters from collaborating within the New Hampshire major.
A spokesperson for Kramer declined to touch upon the costs. CNN affiliate WMUR was first to report on the indictments.
The felony fees have been filed in Merrimack, Rockingham and Belknap counties, the place among the voters who acquired the robocalls reside. CNN has reached out to the New Hampshire lawyer common’s workplace for remark.
Kramer, who labored for Rep. Dean Phillips’ longshot Democratic major marketing campaign in opposition to Biden, beforehand admitted that he was behind the robocall, which was despatched to greater than 20,000 voters and urged them to “save” their vote for the November election as an alternative of casting ballots within the January major. Phillips’ marketing campaign denied having any position within the robocalls.
The robocall is believed to be the primary main effort to make use of AI to mimic a president’s voice in an try and suppress votes and it has spurred law enforcement investigations and worries about the way forward for AI’s affect on American politics.