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Russia manufactured and spread a fake video that purports to show someone destroying ballots marked for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, U.S. officials said on Friday.

The phony video was quickly debunked by local election officials and the district attorney’s office in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. But it still circulated widely on social media, including Elon Musk's X, where it racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

"This Russian activity is part of Moscow's broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement.

Russian propagandists have also created fake videos targeting Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

The purported Bucks County video shows a person's hands opening envelopes and removing and examining the ballots inside. The person rips up ballots marked for Trump, cursing at the former president, while leaving ballots marked for Harris alone. "Vote Harris," the voice says at one point.

But the envelopes and ballots shown are not what the county uses to vote, the 

The video was posted by an X account that last week shared another video making 

, which intelligence officials have also attributed to Russia. The account has also promoted the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory.

Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, traced the Bucks County video back to a Russian propaganda operation known as 

, first identified by Clemson, which is known for its tactic of 

 that it then launders through influencers and phony news outlets.

"The particular video about Bucks County came from an account that we were familiar with," Linvill said. "It has originated Storm-1516 narratives before."

He said the operation has consistent "tells" including a focus on wedge issues, the use of particular actors and "stylistic elements of their videos that suggest to us that these things certainly aren't authentic."

 Harris of injuring someone in a hit-and-run in 2011, which was spread via a website claiming to be a local San Francisco TV station. There is 

 any such incident occurred, and the purported TV station does not exist.

NPR's Miles Parks contributed reporting to this story. 

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Federal intelligence officials and the FBI say Russia is behind the video, which has spread widely on social media, including Elon Musk’s X.

Russia is behind fake video of ballots being destroyed, U.S. officials say

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