AI-generated Biden robocalls, allegedly from North Texas, told N.H. voters to stay home
An Arlington man and Texas-based Life Corp. are facing a “cease and desist” order from the New Hampshire attorney general for violating state election laws that prohibit people from engaging in voter suppression by knowingly deterring anyone from voting or registering to vote using fraudulent information.
A man identified as Walter Monk and Life Corp. were identified as the source of “deep fake” robocalls using an AI-generated recording of President Joe Biden’s voice to discourage people from voting in the New Hampshire primary, Attorney General John Formella announced Tuesday during a press conference.
Formella said his office has also opened a criminal investigation.
“AI-generated recordings used to deceive voters have the potential to have devastating effects on the democratic election process,” he said in a statement.
Monk did not return a message from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.
The New Hampshire Department of Justice said in a news release that Life Corporation and “an individual” Walter Monk were identified as the source of the robocalls through “trace back” technology and that another Texas company, Lingo Telecom, was identified as the “voice provider,” but the company stopped providing services to Life Corp. when it learned of the investigations.
The release also said that the robocalls spoofed caller IDs to make it appear that the calls were coming from a former Democratic committee chair.
According to Bloomberg News, the robocalls went out to registered Democrats, and discouraged them from voting, telling them to wait until November.
The calls were made on the weekend before the primary, and voters were told, “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
Monk also owns PollMakers, a company that creates phone surveys for political campaigns and voice broadcasting for phone messages designed for a target audience.
According to a profile in the Fort Worth Inc. Magazine, Monk got his start as an entrepreneur after he quit studying for his fisheries and wildlife degree at South Dakota State and moved to Hawaii to sell lobsters.
When that didn’t pan out, he returned to South Dakota where he opened a bar and eventually expanded the operation in to Nebraska and Iowa. But the venture proved to be too much, and Monk declared bankruptcy and got a divorce.
This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 4:28 PM.