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Thirty years after the last Democratic victory in Texas, the state becomes an electoral battleground with a tight tie in the Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, forcing Republicans to defend a fortress they had considered invulnerable. #Elecciones2026 #Texas #PolíticaAmericana (translated)

Michal Sirový stated that a NY Times poll for the key Senate elections showed Talaric with a 6-point lead in Texas, which he said was almost at the margin of error. According to him, the lead in Alaska was significant. He added that the poll confirmed the results of other surveys from Kansas, according to which Democrats had a chance to win a Senate seat there for the first time since 1932. He described the situation as "a slaughterhouse." https://t.co/0d2pHyIwI4 #volby #senát #průzkum (translated)

Russia’s influence operation arrives ahead of the US midterms With weeks remaining before America's November midterm elections, a familiar type of content has begun appearing online. Videos resembling reports from CNN, the BBC and The New York Times accuse candidates of corruption, antisemitism and misconduct. Hollywood actors appear to denounce Democrats. Other clips claim that warnings about Russian interference are themselves a Democratic disinformation campaign. The reports are fabricated. Graphika, which tracks online influence operations, says it has identified a coordinated campaign targeting candidates in competitive US Senate races. It assesses with high confidence that the material was produced by Operation Overload, also known as Matryoshka – a long-running Russia-aligned influence operation previously active against elections and political debates in Europe and the United States. The activity coincides with a broader warning from American intelligence officials. Classified assessments reported by The New York Times conclude that the Kremlin has authorised another digital influence campaign ahead of the 2026 midterms, aimed primarily at exploiting existing divisions and undermining confidence in American democracy. There is an important distinction. US officials have not reported evidence that Russia is attempting to manipulate voting machines or alter the counting of votes. The operation is about influencing the information environment surrounding the election. Fake scandals for competitive Senate races Graphika traced a concentrated wave of activity between 10 and 14 September. Likely inauthentic or repurposed accounts distributed videos accusing Democratic politicians of corruption, antisemitism and other misconduct. The targets included Senator Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Representative Chris Pappas in New Hampshire and Texas state representative James Talarico, as well as Senate candidates Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Roy Cooper in North Carolina, Mary Peltola in Alaska, Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Joshua Turek in Iowa and Troy Jackson in Maine. The selection was not random. These were politicians involved in Senate contests where the result could matter to control of the chamber. The campaign did not rely on a single political narrative. Instead, it attached different accusations to different candidates – corruption, social issues, antisemitism or personal misconduct – while maintaining a consistent production and distribution model. That model is characteristic of Matryoshka: create apparently independent pieces of evidence, disguise them as journalism and distribute them through networks of disposable accounts. Hollywood celebrities who never said what the videos claimed One of the campaign's more distinctive techniques involved genuine footage of American actors. Videos featuring celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker and Julia Roberts were altered with captions and other material to suggest they were promoting the slogan #AllDemocratsAreCriminals. The technique continued in subsequent material. Fact-checkers identified fabricated New York Times-branded videos using footage of Alyssa Milano, Sean Astin, Rachael Harris, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eric Braeden, Annie Potts and Patrick Fabian. Some of the original footage came from Cameo, where actors record personalised video messages. Their authentic images were retained while fabricated audio, captions or surrounding material changed the meaning entirely. Lead Stories compared several of the clips with the originals and found that the supposed political statements did not appear in the genuine recordings. Eric Braeden's representative separately confirmed that the claim he had joined the anti-Democratic campaign was false. The advantage of the technique is straightforward. Generative AI does not need to create a convincing celebrity from nothing. The operator can begin with authentic footage of a recognisable person and manipulate only the elements necessary to manufacture a political statement. Stealing the authority of real newsrooms Celebrity impersonation was only one layer. The operation repeatedly borrowed the visual identity of established media organisations. Graphika identified material impersonating or falsely citing the BBC, CNN and Politico, alongside references to France's VIGINUM foreign-interference agency and journalist Brandy Zadrozny. Other material reproduced New York Times-style branding. Some fabricated reports made an unusual claim: that Democrats themselves were organising disinformation or “false-flag operations” and then blaming Russia. This creates a defensive layer around the influence operation. Instead of merely distributing false political allegations, the campaign also attempts to discredit future reporting about the manipulation itself. If successful, evidence exposing foreign interference can be reframed as part of the conspiracy. Graphika says it assesses with high confidence that Operation Overload produced these videos. The technique is well established. Earlier investigations by CheckFirst and Reset Tech documented hundreds of falsified pieces of content produced by Operation Overload, often impersonating journalists, institutions and major media brands. AI-generated or manipulated material has increasingly become part of that production system. What US intelligence says Russia is trying to achieve The broader strategic picture comes from American intelligence assessments reported on 18 September. According to US officials familiar with classified findings, the Kremlin has authorised a covert digital influence campaign aimed at Americans during the 2026 election season. Its apparent objective is to seed or amplify domestic divisions and weaken confidence in the political process. Some officials described the principal aim as creating disorder rather than helping a single political party. The publicly identified Matryoshka material examined so far, however, has targeted Democratic candidates. Those two findings should not be treated as contradictory. An operation can exploit partisan divisions while serving the broader objective of making the electoral system appear corrupt, chaotic or illegitimate. US officials also reportedly assess the current Russian campaign as less extensive or coordinated than some previous election operations. Moscow is considered less focused on congressional elections than presidential contests and remains heavily occupied by its war against Ukraine. Russia has denied previous US accusations of election interference. An operation with limited reach – so far There is another reason for caution: producing large quantities of disinformation is not the same as successfully influencing voters. Matryoshka has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to manufacture content at industrial speed, but much of its material receives little genuine engagement. Researchers monitoring the network have previously warned against confusing automated distribution and platform view counts with authentic audience penetration. There are exceptions. A fabricated New York Times-style video featuring Jamie Lee Curtis had accumulated nearly 200,000 views on X by the end of 17 September, according to reporting by The New York Times. Other pieces attracted considerably less attention. There is currently no public evidence demonstrating that the campaign has changed voting intentions or will affect election results. What the September activity demonstrates is something narrower but important: a Russia-aligned influence infrastructure previously used against European elections has now turned significant attention towards the American midterms. The basic method has changed little – impersonate trusted media, manufacture scandals and use networks of inauthentic accounts to distribute them. What has changed is the production technology. Authentic celebrity footage, synthetic voices, manipulated video and rapidly generated fake journalism allow the same operation to produce more tailored material for more candidates at lower cost. The objective does not require Americans to believe every fabrication. Creating uncertainty over which videos, news reports and public statements are authentic can itself degrade trust in the information environment surrounding an election. Sources - Graphika — Russia-Aligned Influence Operation Targets US Midterm Candidates, German State Elections https://www.graphika.com/insights/russia-aligned-influence-operation-targets-us-midterm-candidates-german-state-elections - The New York Times — Russia Aims to Inject Chaos Into Elections, U.S. Intelligence Finds https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/us/politics/russia-election-disinformation-us-intelligence.html - Kathimerini / The New York Times — Russia Aims to Inject Chaos Into Elections https://www.ekathimerini.com/nytimes/1315792/russia-aims-to-inject-chaos-into-elections-us-intelligence-finds/ - CheckFirst — Operation Overload: An AI-fuelled escalation of the Kremlin-linked propaganda effort https://checkfirst.network/operation-overload-an-ai-fuelled-escalation-of-the-kremlin-linked-propaganda-effort/ - CheckFirst — Operation Overload targeting the US election https://checkfirst.network/operation-overload-a-growing-disinformation-threat-now-targeting-the-u-s-presidential-election/ - Lead Stories — Fake NYT videos: Alyssa Milano, Rachael Harris and Sean Astin https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2026/09/fact-check-fake-new-york-times-videos-of-alyssa-milano-rachael-harris-sean-astin-falsely-claim-they-support-all-democrats-are-criminals.html - Lead Stories — Fake NYT videos: Leonardo DiCaprio, Eric Braeden and other celebrities https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2026/09/fact-check-fake-new-york-times-videos-of-leonardo-dicaprio-eric-braeden-other-celebs-falsely-claim-they-support-all-democrats-are-criminals.html - Brennan Center for Justice — AI Is Changing Foreign Election Influence https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/ai-changing-foreign-election-influence - ODNI — previous US intelligence assessment of foreign election information operations https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/NICM-Declassified-Foreign-Threats-to-US-Elections-After-Voting-Ends-in-2024.pdf - FBI / ODNI / CISA — previous joint assessment of Russian election influence operations https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/joint-odni-fbi-and-cisa-statement-110424 #DISINFORMED #Episode9 #Russia #UnitedStates #USMidterms #Midterms2026 #USElections #ElectionInterference #ForeignInterference #RussianInfluence #RussianDisinformation #OperationOverload #Matryoshka #Disinformation #InformationWarfare #InfluenceOperations #FIMI #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #AIPropaganda #Deepfakes #SyntheticMedia #MediaImpersonation #FakeMedia #FakeNews #PoliticalDisinformation #CelebrityDeepfakes #SocialMediaManipulation #DigitalInfluence #ElectionSecurity #CognitiveWarfare #Graphika #OSINT #Democracy #WRLD

Die aktuelle Lage in den USA zeigt, wie der Senatskandidat James Talarico im Wahlkampf in Texas um einen historischen Sieg kämpft, während die USA im Weltraum eine gefährliche Rüstungssituation anstreben und Roggenbrot in New York zu einem Luxusgut geworden ist. #JamesTalarico #USPolitik #Weltraumwettrüsten

Jimmy Kimmel heeft onder druk van de FCC een interview met de Democratische Senaatskandidaat James Talarico geschrapt, maar heeft het gesprek inmiddels toch op YouTube geplaatst, waarbij hij wijst op eerdere intimidatie van de toezichthouder tegenover zijn show. #JimmyKimmel #FCC #Verkiezingen

Demokrat James Talarico, který má šanci získat senátní křeslo v Texasu, se ve svém rozhovoru s Jimmym Kimmelem, jenž se nedostal do televizního vysílání kvůli tlaku ze strany Federální komise pro komunikace (FCC), vyjádřil, že jeho soupeři se obávají jeho rostoucího vlivu a hnutí v tradičně konzervativním státě. #Texas #JamesTalarico #JimmyKimmel

Esistono 6 sessi biologici. Poi, si avvicinano le elezioni di mid-term e i sessi tornano 2. Nella grande ritirata dal woke, si aggiunge il senatore dei dem americani James Talarico che ammette di essere stato un po’ generoso nel conteggio dei sessi biologici e ora invece fa retromarcia, con l’avvicinarsi delle elezioni di novembre in USA. Era tutto esagerato, impreciso, strumentale ed è stato fatto passare come dogma. #Sessi #Elezioni2024 #Woke

Jimmy Kimmel annuncia che la sua intervista con il candidato democratico al Senato del Texas James Talarico NON andrà in onda su ABC domani, affermando che la FCC di Trump lo ha minacciato, roba da regime autoritario. https://t.co/B7jHYF7KjW #libertàdiStampa #politica #democrazia

Federální vysílací komise v USA donutila komika Jimmy Kimmela s pomocí hrozby pokutou odvolat vysílání rozhovoru s demokratickým kandidátem do Senátu za Texas Talaricem. Prý by porušil nestrannost v kampani. Trump byl v Kimmelově pořadu během kampaně 2015–což samozřejmě bylo ok #JimmyKimmel #FCC #Talarico #USA #TX

Článek se zaměřuje na reverenda Jima Rigbyho a jeho neortodoxní duchovno-politický přístup, který kombinací křesťanské víry a levicové ekonomické politiky ovlivňuje politickou scénu v Texasu, kde jeho žák James Talarico kandiduje na senátora za demokraty a má šanci přerušit dlouhotrvající dominanci republikánů. #JamesTalarico #Texas #kresťanstvo

Democrat James Talarico is tied with Republican Ken Paxton in Texas’ U.S. Senate election. Trump’s unpopularity and Paxton’s past "controversies" are giving Democrats a chance to win a statewide contest in Texas for the first time since the 1990s https://t.co/kPyr1fxIJ9 #TexasElection #JamesTalarico #KenPaxton #US

James Talarico, un joven seminarista y candidato demócrata al Senado por Texas, busca ganar votos en un estado republicano apostando por la religión y promoviendo causas progresistas como la justicia social y los derechos LGBTQ, lo que ha suscitado tanto admiración como condena, siendo considerado por algunos como un hereje. #JamesTalarico #JusticiaSocial #CristianismoProgresista