The Russian government created the fake viral video of a former student of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz accusing him of sexual abuse, U.S. intelligence said.
“The [intelligence community] assesses that Russian influence actors created and amplified content alleging inappropriate activity committed by the Democratic vice presidential candidate during his earlier career,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence wrote in a foreign election interference update Tuesday.
“The [intelligence community] reviewed media associated with this effort, and in doing so, it revealed several indicators of manipulation that are consistent with the influence efforts and tactics of Russian actors,” it wrote.
A video of a man who claimed to be a former student of Mr. Walz when he was a high school teacher and football coach went viral last week on X. In the video, the man, Matthew Metro, describes an incident that happened to him while he was in school in 1997.
But the real Matthew Metro told The Washington Post that he did not make that video and the allegation isn’t true. He did attend the high school where Mr. Walz worked and now lives in Hawaii.
“It’s obviously not me: The teeth are different, the hair is different, the eyes are different, the nose is different,” Mr. Metro, 45, told the outlet. “I don’t know where they’re getting this from.”
He said he was never taught by Mr. Walz, who is now the Minnesota governor, and was not associated with the X account that posted the video.
The video on X now has a label on it saying it’s manipulated media.
The Harris-Walz campaign reached out to the real Mr. Metro to tell him it was investigating the fake video.
Experts believe Storm-1516, a Russian-aligned propaganda network, is behind the video, according to Wired. The network has pushed fake stories and videos in the past as a way to push narratives in the U.S.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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