Skip to main content
NOPE
Low reported severity Criminal Charges

Queens prosecutors say a City Council candidate used AI to fake endorsements and news reports, including a video saying his opponent quit

The Queens District Attorney charged a former candidate for New York City Council District 29 with forgery in June 2026, alleging that from January to November 2025 he posted AI-generated images, fake news articles and videos on his campaign's Facebook and Instagram accounts. Prosecutors say subpoena records and search warrants show he prompted an AI platform to face-swap himself into a photo shaking hands with former Council Member Robert Holden for a fake New York Post endorsement story, used Google Gemini to make a fake Amsterdam News article saying his opponent, Council Member Lynn Schulman, was questioned by police, and posted a Sora-generated newscast announcing that she had dropped out. They also allege AI videos of apparent police officers and children endorsing him. In October 2025 Holden's chief of staff told the Queens Daily Eagle the handshake image was fake and AI-generated, and Schulman said her opponent was lying about her and creating fake news. The accused said his accounts were hacked and later told the AP he would not confirm or deny making the posts.

AI system
Gemini and Sora (reported)
Google; OpenAI
Occurred
17 Jan 2025 to 4 Nov 2025
Reported
6 October 2025
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Elections · Public life · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources
11 claims: 1 documented, 10 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 2 people

AI system as recorded: Google Gemini and OpenAI's Sora, plus an unnamed AI platform used for a face swap, as identified by Queens prosecutors from the candidate's prompts

What Happened

The posts. The Queens District Attorney alleges that between 17 January and 4 November 2025 a Republican candidate for New York City Council District 29 created and posted AI-generated images on his campaign's Facebook and Instagram accounts that falsely showed endorsements from people and organisations that had not backed him, and used AI prompts to make fake news articles carrying the branding of real news organisations. Prosecutors say subpoena records and search warrants recovered the prompts.

Depictions of real officials. According to prosecutors, on 4 October 2025 the candidate prompted an AI platform to face-swap his own face into a photo, producing an image of him shaking hands with former Council Member Robert Holden, and placed it in a fake New York Post story claiming Holden had endorsed him. On 6 October he prompted Google Gemini to put a photo from the Instagram account of his opponent, Council Member Lynn Schulman, on a fake Amsterdam News article whose headline said she had been questioned by police for hacking. On 24 October he posted a video generated with OpenAI's Sora in which a purported news anchor announced that Schulman had ended her campaign, followed by further fake articles and videos saying the same. According to the Associated Press's account of the complaint, prosecutors also allege AI-made photos of Schulman appearing to wear a shirt reading “Hot Girls for Zohran”; the Queens Daily Eagle reported doctored images of her in such T-shirts on 6 October 2025. Prosecutors also allege AI-generated videos of apparent police officers and children endorsing him on behalf of a police precinct and an elementary school; none of the people shown worked at the precinct or attended the school. The head of the Queens Jewish Alliance spoke with him in a recorded call about an altered copy of its endorsement sheet and asked for it to be taken down; it was removed and then re-posted.

Responses. In October 2025 Holden's chief of staff told the Queens Daily Eagle that the handshake image was fake and AI-generated and that Holden had not endorsed the candidate. Schulman said her opponent was lying about her and creating fake news to divide the community. The candidate told the Eagle his accounts had been hacked, and in June 2026 told the Associated Press he would not confirm or deny making the posts, calling the case a free-speech issue.

Charges. He was arrested on 24 June 2026 and arraigned on three counts of third-degree forgery and 15 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument. The charges are accusations.

Reported harm

Prosecutors allege AI-made posts falsely showed a former council member endorsing a candidate and falsely reported that the candidate's opponent had dropped out and been questioned by police; the opponent said on 6 October 2025 that her opponent was lying about her and creating fake news, and the former member's office called the image fake.

How Harm Occurred

A candidate is alleged to have used generative AI tools to make images, articles and videos that depicted real officials endorsing him and reported falsely that his opponent had quit and been questioned by police, and to have posted them to voters on his campaign accounts.

Outcome

Pending

Charged on a criminal complaint with three counts of third-degree forgery and 15 counts of third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; arrested on 24 June 2026 and arraigned, with a further court date set for 19 August 2026. No later outcome was found in the inspected sources.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI platform produced the face-swapped handshake image; the prosecutors quote the prompt but do not name the platform.
  • How many people saw the posts, and whether any voter acted on them.
  • The outcome of the criminal case.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Queens District Attorney, citing court-authorised subpoena records and search warrants, alleges the specific AI use: a prompt to an AI platform to face-swap the candidate into a photo, producing an image of him shaking hands with a former council member; prompts to Google Gemini that produced a fake newspaper article about his opponent; and a video generated with OpenAI's Sora announcing that she had quit. The former council member's chief of staff separately told the Queens Daily Eagle in October 2025 that the handshake image was fake and AI-generated. The accused said his accounts were hacked and has not confirmed or denied making the posts; the charges are untested.

11 claims: 1 documented, 10 reported. What the statuses mean

Documented The Queens District Attorney charged a former New York City Council candidate in District 29 with three counts of third-degree forgery and 15 counts of third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; he was arrested on 24 June 2026 and arraigned on a criminal complaint.

Causal attribution. The district attorney's own record of the charges; the charges are accusations.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'was arraigned today on a criminal complaint charging him with three counts of forgery in the third degree and 15 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree.'; 'was arrested on June 24 by members of the Queens District Attorney’s Detective Bureau.'
Reported Prosecutors allege that subpoena records and search warrants showed that between 17 January and 4 November 2025 the candidate created and posted AI-generated images on his campaign's Facebook and Instagram accounts that falsely depicted endorsements, and used AI prompts to make fake news articles carrying the branding of real news organisations.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' allegation, based on records their investigation obtained; not yet tested in court.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Court-authorized subpoena records and search warrants revealed that, between January 17 and November 4, 2025,'; 'routinely and deliberately created and posted AI-generated images on his official social media accounts – primarily Facebook and Instagram – that falsely depicted endorsements from individuals and organizations that had not backed his candidacy and in fact, backed the opposition.'; 'allegedly used specific AI prompts to manufacture fraudulent news articles, using the logo and branding of legitimate news organizations'
Reported Prosecutors say that on 4 October 2025 the candidate prompted an AI platform to face-swap his own face into a photo, producing an image of him shaking hands with former council member Robert Holden, which he placed in a fake New York Post article claiming Holden had endorsed him.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' account of the prompts recovered in their investigation.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'on October 4, 2025,'; 'The article depicted a photograph of the defendant shaking hands with former New York City Council Member Robert Holden under the title,'; 'He then allegedly prompted an AI platform to: “Take the first image and face swap the man in the left on the second image”'; 'The generated image fictitiously depicted the defendant shaking hands with the former council member'
Reported In October 2025 the former council member's chief of staff told the Queens Daily Eagle that the handshake image was a fake, AI-generated image and that the former member had not endorsed the candidate.

Causal attribution. The chief of staff's statement to the Eagle; he does not say how he knew the image was AI-generated.

  • queenseagle.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '“It's a fake, AI-generated image and Holden did not endorse Rinaldi,” said Holden’s longtime Chief of Staff Daniel Kurzyna, whose name is used as the byline on the story.'
Reported Prosecutors say that in October 2025 the candidate prompted Google Gemini to place a photo taken from the official Instagram account of his opponent, incumbent Council Member Lynn Schulman, onto a fake Amsterdam News article whose headline said a councilwoman who supported Mamdani had been questioned by police for hacking, and posted it to Instagram.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' account of the prompts recovered in their investigation.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'prompted Google Gemini to place that image onto a fictious Amsterdam News article.'; 'The fake article generated by his prompts, titled “Mamdani supporter Councilwoman … questioned by police for hacking,”'
Reported Prosecutors say that on 24 October 2025 the candidate posted a video generated with OpenAI's Sora in which a purported news anchor announced that his opponent had ended her campaign, and posted further fake articles and videos saying she had dropped out.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' allegation.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'On October 24, 2025,'; 'published a fictitious video to his Facebook account that was generated with Sora, an OpenAI application, with the caption, “!!!!Breaking news!!!! Lynn Schulman drops out of race for city council !!!”'; 'two additional videos were manufactured to mimic fictious broadcast segments.'
Reported Prosecutors say the candidate also posted AI-generated videos of what appeared to be police officers and children endorsing him on behalf of a police precinct and an elementary school, public institutions that do not allow political endorsements; none of the people shown worked at the precinct or attended the school.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' allegation.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'public institutions that do not allow political endorsements, were AI-generated videos that depicted what appeared to be police officers and children making statements in support of'; 'None of the officers or children depicted worked at the precinct or attended P.S. 101.'
Reported Prosecutors say the head of the Queens Jewish Alliance spoke with the candidate in a recorded call to ask about an altered copy of the alliance's endorsement sheet, and that the post was taken down and then re-posted on 29 October 2025.

Causal attribution. The prosecutors' account; they describe this sheet as altered and do not say which tool altered it.

  • queensda.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In a recorded call that occurred several days after the image was posted, the head of QJA spoke with'; 'The manipulated QJA endorsement was taken down but then subsequently re-posted to the defendant’s Facebook and Instagram accounts on October 29, 2025.'
Reported In October 2025 the opponent said in a statement that her opponent was lying about her and creating fake news to divide the community, and that anyone who would create and publish fake news and AI videos was unfit for office.

Causal attribution. The opponent's own statement to the Eagle.

  • queenseagle.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '“My opponent has decided that his best path to victory is by lying about me and creating fake news to divide our community.”'; '“Any person who would stoop to creating and publishing fake news and AI videos to divide the community is wholly unfit to serve in elected office,” the councilmember added.'
Reported In October 2025 the candidate told the Queens Daily Eagle that his accounts had been hacked, and in June 2026 he told the Associated Press he would not confirm or deny making the posts or generating the images and called the case a free-speech issue.

Causal attribution. The accused's own statements, recorded as counterevidence; the Eagle notes the accounts had posted apparently AI-created images since April 2025.

  • queenseagle.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '“My accounts have definitely been hacked and I’m looking into it,” he said.'
  • nbcnewyork.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'He said he would not confirm or deny that he made the posts or generated the images at issue.'; '“This is an issue that strikes at the heart of our First Amendment freedoms — not just for me, but for everybody.”'
Reported According to the Associated Press's account of the complaint, prosecutors allege the candidate used AI to make doctored photos of his opponent appearing to wear a shirt reading “Hot Girls for Zohran”; the Queens Daily Eagle reported on 6 October 2025 that his campaign accounts had posted doctored images of her wearing such T-shirts.

Causal attribution. The AI use is the prosecutors' allegation as relayed by the AP; the Eagle describes the images as doctored without naming a tool.

  • nbcnewyork.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'including some of his Democratic opponent, Lynn Schulman, appearing to wear a shirt that read “Hot Girls for Zohran.”'
  • queenseagle.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'also posted doctored images of his opponent Schulman, standing next to Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and wearing branded “Hot Girls for Zohran” T-shirts.'

Sources

3 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Queens County District Attorney press release, 24 June 2026, summarising the criminal complaint and the investigation's subpoena and search-warrant records; read in full (HTTP 200). Applies to s1.

Queens Daily Eagle, 6 October 2025, contemporaneous report with its own statements from the opponent, a state assembly member, the former council member's chief of staff and the candidate; read in full (HTTP 200). Applies to s2.

Associated Press report published by NBC New York, 25 June 2026, with the AP's own phone interview of the accused; its account of the charges relays the district attorney's complaint; read in full (HTTP 200). Applies to s3.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

The posts concerned a 2025 New York City Council race in Queens District 29, the depicted officials are Queens elected officials, and the charges were brought by the Queens District Attorney in Queens Criminal Court (district attorney release, Queens Daily Eagle).

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-19: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the Queens District Attorney alleges, from subpoena records and search warrants, that a council candidate used an AI face swap, Google Gemini and OpenAI's Sora to make images, a fake article and a newscast video depicting a former council member's endorsement and his opponent's withdrawal; the opponent and the former member's office objected in October 2025. The charges are accusations and the accused has not admitted the posts.

People described

Elected officials depicted in fabricated campaign posts, chiefly the incumbent council member running against the candidate and a former council member shown endorsing him

People reported harmed in this case

At least 2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

Two depicted officials whose objections are reported are counted: the opponent (her statement to the Queens Daily Eagle) and the former council member (his chief of staff's statement that the image was fake and AI-generated). Other officials, organisations, the depicted institutions and voters are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#election#deepfake#ai-generated-image#ai-generated-video#fake-news-article#forgery-charge#public-figure

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Queens prosecutors say a City Council candidate used AI to fake endorsements and news reports, including a video saying his opponent quit. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-queens-prosecutors-say-council-candidate-used-ai-to-fake-endorsements-and-news-reports-about-opponent

BibTeX

@misc{2025_queens_prosecutors_say_council_candidate_used_ai_to_fake_endorsements_and_news_reports_about_opponent,
  title = {Queens prosecutors say a City Council candidate used AI to fake endorsements and news reports, including a video saying his opponent quit},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-queens-prosecutors-say-council-candidate-used-ai-to-fake-endorsements-and-news-reports-about-opponent}
}

Related cases

Low Unidentified video tool

Texas: State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, filed a sworn complaint with the Travis County Sheriff's Office on 19 September 2026 alleging that two campaign ads posted on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's X account used AI-generated video of her saying things she never said; the posts were deleted the next day, her campaign says, and Patrick's campaign calls them obvious parody

On Saturday 19 September 2026 Vikki Goodwin, an Austin state representative running against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, filed a complaint with a notarised affidavit at the Travis County Sheriff's Office accusing Patrick of violating Texas's 2019 election deepfake law, after his campaign posted two ads (5 and 12 September, on his non-government X account) containing AI-generated videos of her. In the affidavit she stated: 'I did not personally do or say the things depicted in the video; although the "person" in the video appears to be me, it was not actually me', and that the video was posted 'with the intent to deceive Texans, injure a candidate, or influence the result of an election'. She told KUT the ads made it look as though she favoured raising taxes, which she says she opposes in every campaign speech. The sheriff's office confirmed receipt of the complaint without further comment. Patrick's campaign spokesman told the New York Times the material was 'an obvious parody produced to entertain' and that none of it was published within 30 days of the election; the posts were taken down the day after the complaint, according to Goodwin's communications director. Goodwin said she doubted the sheriff's office would follow up now that the posts were removed. A conviction under the law is a class A misdemeanour.

Low Unidentified voice-cloning tool (suspected)

Florida: judge suspended for sharing, as a 2024 candidate, a fabricated call of justices the judicial watchdog says was likely computer-manipulated or AI-made

While campaigning in 2024 for a Broward County court seat, Lauren Peffer, now a county judge, sought the endorsement of the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board. Asked to back her claim of an image crisis in Florida's judiciary, she cited a self-published book by a fired employee of the Ninth Judicial Circuit and supplied a recording purportedly of a phone call about the book between Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz, Justice Renatha Francis and the circuit's chief judge, Lisa Munyon. The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission's notice of formal charges, filed in May 2025, said the recording was fabricated, likely using computer manipulation or generative AI, and that while the voices resembled those of the participants, the manner of speech, tone and much of the content were objectively unrealistic. The notice said she had shared it despite clear evidence of its inauthenticity and had perpetuated a false perception of illegal, unethical or immoral conduct by the justices, a chief judge and others in the judicial branch. Peffer apologised, said the content was created by a third party with whom she had no ties, and testified that she could not explain why she had thought it valid. According to Bloomberg Law, the Florida Supreme Court on 9 October 2026 suspended her for 30 days and fined her $10,000, saying her conduct undermined public confidence in the judiciary by implicating sitting justices; the two justices whose voices were faked recused. Who made the recording, and with what tool, is not reported.

Low Unidentified image tool

California school board race: a flyer carrying an AI disclosure shows a female candidate at a bake sale; she says it manipulated her likeness

In October 2026 the San Dieguito Faculty Association, a California union representing district educators and staff that has endorsed candidate Amy Flicker for a San Dieguito Union High School District trustee seat, accused the campaign of her opponent, Cajon Valley Union School District superintendent David Ray Miyashiro, of using AI 'to generate deceptive, sexist imagery' in a campaign flyer. The flyer, as published by the Daily Mail, shows Flicker behind a table of baked goods labelled 'Non-profit volunteer' beside Miyashiro at a microphone labelled 'District superintendent', and carries the small-print disclosure 'Ad generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence.' Flicker said that using AI to manipulate her likeness diminished her public service into a condescending stereotype. The campaign's response is not reported, and which parts of the image were generated or altered is not stated.

Low Unidentified image tool

New Hampshire Senate Republicans ran Meta ads with an AI-altered image of Black state Senate candidate Leonard Bell amid cash and gold chains, outlet reports

Granite Post reported on 5 October 2026 that the New Hampshire Senate Republicans paid Meta to show Facebook and Instagram users an image of Leonard Bell, the Democratic candidate for state Senate District 18 and the only Black candidate for state Senate in New Hampshire this year, laughing in a leather armchair buried in cash and wearing gold chains, a large ring and a watch. According to the outlet, Meta labelled the ad "Digitally created" and its detail page states that the media was created or edited with AI; Bell’s face appears to have been taken from a family snapshot. Bell told the outlet that everything in the image is false other than his face. Citing Meta’s Ad Library, the outlet says three ads from 7 September put the image on New Hampshire screens 39,000 to 50,000 times. The outlet describes the image as a racial stereotype, and a Democratic co-sponsor of New Hampshire’s 2024 deepfake law called it a racist caricature. The Senate Republicans did not respond to questions.

If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.

Back to all incidents