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Fake bomb threats to polling locations across several U.S. states on Tuesday are likely the work of Russia, according to the FBI, which said in a statement that many of the threats “appear to originate from Russian email domains.” It added that “none of those threats have been determined to be credible thus far.”
The FBI’s announcement followed a similar statement by Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who told reporters that state officials had identified Russia as the source of bomb threats that shut down two polling locations just outside of Atlanta.
The FBI also warned of broader misinformation that it did not immediately attribute to a specific actor, saying in an earlier Tuesday statement that the bureau’s name and insignia were used to promote false election narratives in two instances, including a fabricated news clip depicting a fake terrorist warning. “The fabricated news clip reports falsely that the FBI purportedly stated that Americans should ‘vote remotely’ due to a high terror threat at polling stations,” the FBI said. “Additionally, a fabricated video containing a fabricated FBI press release alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party.”
Agencies are encouraging voters to seek out accurate voting information from their local election offices and to report any suspected criminal activity via phone or online using 1-800-CALL-FBI, tips.fbi.gov, 1-844-Say-CISA, cisa.gov/report, or emailing [email protected].
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