WASHINGTON: Pro-Kremlin fake news sites posing as legitimate US news outlets have recently propagated baseless allegations that Democrats orchestrated an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. This represents a troubling example of how AI-powered fake portals are spreading inflammatory falsehoods during the high-stakes election season.
Disinformation researchers report that the proliferation of fake media outlets has surged in recent months, now outnumbering American newspaper sites. This trend is eroding trust in traditional media as the White House race heats up. The fake sites, enabled by inexpensive and widely available AI tools, are fueling a rise in polarizing and false narratives as US officials warn of increased foreign interference from powers like Russia and Iran in the upcoming November election.
Earlier this month, a network of fake websites—operated by John Mark Dougan, a former US marine who fled to Russia while facing extortion and wiretapping charges in Florida—circulated the false claim that the Democratic Party was behind a July assassination attempt on Trump. These articles referenced a supposed private conversation between Barack Obama and a Democratic strategist, featuring an AI-generated voice mimicking the former president, allegedly discussing removing Trump to secure victory against any Republican candidate.
NewsGuard, a US-based disinformation watchdog, has confirmed the audio to be fake, based on multiple detection tools and digital forensics expert input. The false narrative first appeared on an obscure site, DeepStateLeaks.org, and was then disseminated through Dougan’s network of 171 fake news sites with names like “Atlanta Beacon” and “Arizona Observer,” which were designed to resemble established local newspapers.
“It’s clear that Dougan’s network is being used to spread political disinformation ahead of the US election,” said NewsGuard analyst McKenzie Sadeghi. “Most of his sites mimic US local news outlets, often with names that sound credible, misleading readers into believing the false stories.”
Dougan, viewed as a significant figure in the Kremlin’s global disinformation efforts, is also linked to other false narratives, including claims of a Ukrainian troll farm trying to disrupt the US election and a supposed wiretap discovery at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. These stories are amplified in multiple languages across social media and repeated by AI chatbots, which scrape information from these fake news sites.
