Political consultant, Texas firms behind Biden AI robocall in NH sued for millions

Mar. 14—A lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in New Hampshire alleges that thousands of automated robocalls that used an AI-generated copy of President Joe Biden's voice to urge Granite State Democrats not to vote in the presidential primary could have "long-lasting and detrimental" impacts on voters.

The League of Women Voters of New Hampshire (LWV-NH), the League of Women Voters of the United States, and individual voters in New London, Dover and Barrington filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Concord against two Texas companies and a political consultant, alleging "voter intimidation, coercion, and deception" ahead of the 2024 New Hampshire presidential primary, court documents show.

The suit seeks millions in damages.

Plaintiffs are seeking up to $7,500 in damages for each call that violated federal and state law. Officials estimate the robocall went to between 5,000 and 25,000 people — resulting in damages ranging somewhere between $37,500,000 and $187,500,000.

"If defendants are not permanently enjoined from deploying AI-generated robocalls, there is a strong likelihood that it will happen again," the lawsuit says.

Liz Tentarelli, president of the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, said the organization is concerned that affected voters will be disinclined to participate in voting at all and that the damage created by these robocalls could be "long-lasting and detrimental" to the organization's efforts to encourage registration and voting.

"These deceptive robocalls attempted to cause widespread confusion among New Hampshire voters," Tentarelli said in a statement. "As a nonpartisan organization, the League of Women Voters works to ensure that all voters, regardless of their party affiliation, have the most accurate election information to make their voices heard. We will continue to advocate for New Hampshire voters and fight against malicious schemes to suppress the vote."

The groups are asking the court to declare that the defendants' actions violated the Voting Rights Act and state and federal consumer protection laws.

Injunction sought

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction preventing the defendant from creating robocalls to voters in other primaries, generating robocalls impersonating U.S. politicians, distributing spoofed texts and calls discouraging people from voting, or from distributing any mass communications that urge people not to vote.

"The use of artificial intelligence to discourage voters from participating in elections is an egregious action which must be stopped," Celina Stewart, chief counsel at the League of Women Voters of the United States, said in a statement. "Voters deserve the ability to cast their ballots without second guessing the process, especially when election staff heroes work diligently to carry out a seamless and efficient election."

"Fraudulently made robocalls have the potential to devastate voter turnout by flooding thousands of voters with intimidating, threatening, or coercive messages in a matter of hours," said Courtney Hostetler, senior counsel at Free Speech For People, which serves as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. "No one should abuse technology to make lawful voters think that they should not, or cannot safely, vote in the primaries or in any election."

Life Corporation of Arlington, Texas, and its owner, Walter Monk, arranged for the calls to go to between 5,000 and 25,000 Democrats on Jan. 21, two days before the vote on Jan. 23, Attorney General John Formella said last month.

"It is important that you save your vote for the November election," said the Biden voice, which was created using artificial intelligence.

Suit includes voters

According to court documents, on Jan. 21 around 6:30 p.m., plaintiff James Fieseher of Dover received the robocall on his residential landline.

Fieseher had not consented to receiving telephone calls from the defendants, the lawsuit states, and "immediately recognized the voice of President Biden" and assumed that the call was coming from Biden's presidential campaign.

"After listening for 15 to 20 seconds, Fieseher realized the call was not legitimate because the robocall was urging him not to vote," court documents state. "At that time, Fieseher recognized that the robocall had used artificial intelligence to duplicate President Biden's voice and hung up."

Also on Jan. 21, around dinner time, plaintiff Nancy Marashio of New London received the robocall on her residential landline.

"Marashio thought the voice on the robocall sounded like President Biden, but the content of the message did not make sense," court documents state. "As a long-time member of the LWV-NH, Marashio was able to discern that the call was not legitimate, but was concerned that others without her experience would be taken in by the message."

Around the same time, plaintiff Patricia Gingrich of Barrington received the robocall on her home phone line and recognized the voice as President Biden's, but "as a consistent voter and chair of the Barrington Democrats, she knew that the message was faked."

The lawsuit was filed weeks after political consultant Steve Kramer admitted he was behind the robocall.

pfeely@unionleader.com