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Primary Season Is Here, But Still No FEC Action on Campaign Deepfakes
A consumer advocacy group warns that deceptive images generated by AI are "one of the biggest threats to our elections."
Jan 16, 2024
As consumer advocacy group Public Citizen marked three months since the Federal Election Commission closed its public comment period on regulating artificial intelligence-generated "deepfake" images in election ads, the group on Tuesday questioned whether the FEC itself is "just a computer-generated illusion."
"Do we have a real Federal Election Commission?" asked Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, eight months after the group submitted its first petition asking the FEC to establish new rules banning deepfakes in campaign materials.
The organization and AI experts have repeatedly warned that "generative A.I. now poses a significant threat to truth and democracy as we know it," with campaign teams capable of altering images to show political opponents falsely appearing to say things they haven't said or appear at events they never attended.
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign circulated fake images of former President Donald Trump embracing former White House Coronavirus Task Force chief Anthony Fauci last June, days after the FEC rejected Public Citizen's first petition.
Trump's reelection campaign has also distributed audio clips featuring deepfaked voices of DeSantis and Adolf Hitler, while former Chicago Democratic mayoral candidate Paul Vallas last year condemned a "deceptive impersonation video" that appeared to portray him making comments supporting police violence.
"The entire political world knows that a torrent of fraudulent deepfakes threatens to destabilize our fragile election system—maybe even decide elections—but so far the FEC hasn't managed to use its existing authority to head off the problem," said Weissman.
After Public Citizen submitted two separate petitions to the FEC last year, the commission announced in August that it would advance the group's request for rulemaking, opening a 60-day comment period. The group called on the FEC to clarify the meaning of "fraudulent representation" and make clear that political campaigns will be held accountable for using "deliberately deceptive AI-produced content."
As the comment period was set to close in October, Public Citizen reiterated its demand that the FEC clarify "whether and how deepfakes in campaign communications are covered under the law against 'fraudulent misrepresentation' (52 USC § 30124)."
In December, with no sign from the FEC that it would take any further action to establish new rulemaking, University of Washington AI expert Oren Etzioni told the Associated Press that with increasingly powerful and widely available AI technology that allows virtually anyone to create a deepfake video, photo, or audio clip, he expected "a tsunami of misinformation" in the 2024 election cycle.
"You could see a political candidate like President [Joe] Biden being rushed to a hospital [in a false video]," Etzioni told the AP last month. "You could see a candidate saying things that he or she never actually said."
Federal lawmakers including Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have introduced legislation to regulate the use of AI in federal elections, but not in state or local races.
Barring all political campaigns from using AI-generated images and audio clips is "just a matter of choosing democracy over fraud and chaos," said Weissman.
"It's time, past time," he added, "for the FEC to act."
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'A Win for the History Books': Brandon Johnson Defeats School Privatizer in Chicago
"Tonight is the beginning of a Chicago that truly invests in all of its people," Johnson said in his victory speech.
Apr 05, 2023
Progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson defeated conservative Democrat and school privatizer Paul Vallas in Chicago's mayoral runoff on Tuesday, a victory he called a "gateway to a new future" for the nation's third-largest city.
"Tonight is the beginning of a Chicago that truly invests in all of its people," Johnson said in his victory speech, pledging to help usher in "a city that actually respects the workers who keep it running" and one "where public schools have the resources to meet the needs of every child."
Education policy quickly emerged as a central issue in the contest between Johnson and Vallas, which the progressive won with just over 51% of the vote.
A former public school teacher and longtime union organizer, Johnson vowed to prioritize investments in public education and oppose charter expansions—an agenda that couldn't have contrasted more sharply with that of Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools and an ardent supporter of school privatization.
Vallas, whose campaign was backed by Republican donors and business interests, aggressively pursued school privatization schemes during his tenure as the head of school districts in Chicago, New Orleans, and Philadelphia—a record that Johnson's campaign spotlighted in an ad that aired this week as well as in debates ahead of Tuesday's vote.
"My opponent talks about school closures," Johnson said during one debate. "Well, he set up the market for schools to be closed. He got so good at it, he went around the country doing it."
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, said in a statement late Tuesday that the Chicago runoff marks "a win for the history books."
"Brandon Johnson just defeated a deluge of far-right money and misinformation thanks to people power and his positive vision for a safe and thriving Chicago," Mitchell added. "Now comes the hard work of building a Chicago for the many, with strong schools, good jobs, and safe communities," Mitchell added. "We look forward to working with Brandon and the new class of Working Families alder members to reopen mental health clinics, pass universal childcare, and implement a local Green New Deal."
In contrast to Vallas, whose campaign was also backed by a super PAC with close ties to former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the bulk of Johnson's support came from unions such as the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU).
"Make no mistake about it," Johnson said in his victory speech, "Chicago is a union town."
Stacy Davis Gates, president of the CTU, said in a statement that "today, Chicago has spoken."
"Chicago has said yes to hope; yes to investment in people; yes to housing the unhoused, and yes to supporting young people with fully-funded schools," said Gates. "It is a new day in our city."
AFT President Randi Weingarten called Johnson's win "a transformational moment" that "sends a message that efforts to exploit anxiety will not work in the face of a multiracial, multiethnic, multigenerational working-class movement standing together as one."
Johnson's upset win Tuesday capped off a remarkable rise for a progressive lawmaker who was polling at just over 3% in December. At that time, according to one survey, Vallas was polling at 19%.
In January, Chicago's outgoing mayor, Lori Lightfoot, brushed aside the CTU's endorsement of Johnson, saying: "Brandon Johnson isn't going to be the mayor of this city."
During his remarks Tuesday night, Johnson gave a nod toward those who dismissed his chances.
"They said this would never happen," he told a crowd of supporters. "If they didn't know, now they know."
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Ahead of Chicago Runoff, New Ad Spotlights 'Trail of Destruction' Left by Paul Vallas
"We've literally seen this man destroy public education, sadly for Black and Brown children," said one parent.
Apr 02, 2023
With Chicago's closely watched mayoral runoff just two days away, the campaign of progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson debuted an ad on Sunday featuring expert and parent testimony on conservative candidate Paul Vallas' education record, including his stints managing school districts in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans.
The picture they painted was not flattering. One New Orleans parent, identified as Kevin G., said that "Paul Vallas has left a trail of destruction, everywhere he goes."
"We've literally seen this man destroy public education, sadly for Black and Brown children," he added.
Kendra Brooks, a Philadelphia parent and city councilmember, offered a similarly scathing assessment during her appearance in the ad, which the Johnson campaign said will air on broadcast and cable across Chicago until Tuesday's runoff.
"I think folks in Chicago should look at the destruction that he has left behind," said Brooks. "Money was being spent carelessly. Millions of dollars are missing, at the loss of Black and Brown communities."
Watch the two-minute spot:
Vallas' is an ardent school privatization advocate who served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001 before moving on to head the School District of Philadelphia and the Recovery School District of Louisiana.
As The TRiiBE's Jim Daley wrote in a detailed examination of Vallas' record:
In each city, he opened charter schools, promoted military schools, and expanded standardized testing and zero-tolerance disciplinary policies. He also ran school districts in Haiti and Chile between 2010 and 2012...
Under Vallas' tenure, Philadelphia underwent what was then the largest privatization of a public school system anywhere in the country. He opened 15 new charter schools over the protests of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, who called for a moratorium on new charters in 2006.
In New Orleans, Daley continued, Vallas "immediately set to work opening more charter schools, and the trend continued after he left."
"New Orleans is now the only city in America with a school district that is entirely made up of charters," Daley noted, "something Vallas also took credit for: he wrote that he 'implemented reforms that created the nation's first 100% parental choice district, with all schools public, non-selective, and nonprofit.'"
Reshansa W., a New Orleans parent and education policy expert featured in Johnson's new ad, said that "everything about education in New Orleans is suffering" due to Vallas' reforms.
"It decimated our middle class," Reshansa added. "He wasn't right for New Orleans. He wasn't right for Philly. He will not be right for Chicago."
The contrasts between Vallas and Johnson on education policy have become central to the April 4 contest—which, if polling is any guide, is set to be razor-close.
Despite mounting criticism of his record, Vallas has pledged to expand charter schools if elected mayor—a promise that may help explain why a super PAC with ties to school privatization zealot Betsy DeVos recently spent $60,000 in support of his campaign.
Vallas' campaign is also backed by rich investors—a class he catered to during his tenure as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
Johnson, a former public school teacher and organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, has pledged to prioritize strengthening Chicago's public schools, which have long been badly underfunded.
ChalkBeat Chicago reported late last month that "if voters pick Johnson, his election would be the crowning achievement in a decade-long grassroots battle waged by the Chicago Teachers Union against mayoral control and many of the controversial policies that came with it, like school closures and charter expansion."
"Johnson opposes adding charter schools and closing small district schools, of which Chicago has a growing number," the outlet noted. "Johnson has talked about getting state lawmakers to ramp up funding increases to the state’s funding formula so Chicago and all districts get to so-called 'adequate funding' more quickly. He—and district officials—have also suggested pushing the state to kick in more for Chicago teachers' pensions, which have been underfunded since the mid- to late-2000s."
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'They Have a Lot of Money... We Have the People': Sanders Rallies for Brandon Johnson in Chicago
"Which side are you on?" Sanders asked at the packed rally. "Are you on the side of working people, or are you on the side of the speculators and billionaires? And I know which side Brandon is on."
Mar 31, 2023
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders stumped for progressive Chicago mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson late Thursday, imploring the city's voters to turn out in record numbers to overcome what he described as the powerful establishment forces backing conservative Democrat Paul Vallas.
"Our job on Tuesday is to make sure we have the largest voter turnout this city has ever seen," Sanders (I-Vt.) told the crowd gathered at the University of Illinois Chicago days ahead of the April 4 runoff. "This is going to be a close election, and the deciding factor will be voter turnout."
A Northwestern University poll released earlier this week showed the race is in a dead heat, with Johnson and Vallas each receiving 44% support and 12% of voters still undecided.
"Brandon's opponent and the other side—they have a lot of money," the Vermont senator said Thursday. "That's what always happens when you take on the establishment. They have the money. They've got a lot of power. But you know what we have? We have the people."
The rally came after new financial disclosures showed that a super PAC with close connections to former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently spent nearly $60,000 on digital media supporting Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools who has worked to privatize education in his home city as well as New Orleans and Philadelphia.
"The fundamental issue, the deep down issue, is: Which side are you on?" Sanders said Thursday night. "Are you on the side of working people, or are you on the side of the speculators and billionaires? And I know which side Brandon is on."
While Sanders didn't explicitly mention the DeVos-tied super PAC's support for Vallas' campaign during Thursday's rally, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten did, saying it "tells you everything you need to know about" Vallas.
In a statement earlier Thursday, Weingarten said that "Paul Vallas’ goal of defunding public schools and dividing parents against teachers makes him precisely the kind of candidate who would appeal to a fellow wrecker like Betsy DeVos—a person who's devoted her life to ending public education as we know it."
"From Chicago to Philadelphia to New Orleans," Weingarten added, "Vallas waged a craven campaign to voucherize and pauperize, just like DeVos tried—and failed—to do when she served as Donald Trump's education secretary."
Watch Thursday's rally:
Johnson, a longtime educator and organizer, also called attention to the Illinois Federation for Children PAC's spending on the race during a candidate forum late Thursday.
"Betsy DeVos has inserted herself and her resources into my opponent's coffers," Johnson said.
Vallas countered that he has "never had any conversations or contacts with Betsy DeVos."
"Our campaign has not received any money from her," Vallas said, citing the often vanishingly thin barrier separating so-called "independent expenditures" by super PACs and direct donations to political campaigns.
In addition to the DeVos-connected spending, Vallas has also received financial support from "conservative contributors and prominent Republicans," the Chicago Tribune reported earlier this month.
"Vallas' largest contributor was golf course developer Michael Keiser, who has given him $700,000," the Tribune noted. "Keiser previously contributed $11,200 to former President Donald Trump, a Republican. Vallas has taken money from John Canning, a Chicago private equity executive who has given to many politicians locally but also national Republicans, and Noel Moore, who has given to Trump and Texas Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz."
Johnson's biggest contributors, by contrast, have been unions representing teachers and service workers.
"When you take dollars from Trump supporters and try to cast yourself as a part of the progressive movement, man—sit down,” Johnson said at Thursday night's rally.
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DeVos-Tied PAC Spends $60,000 in Support of Chicago School Privatizer Paul Vallas
"Chicago voters should know that DeVos supports Vallas' candidacy, and that there is no daylight between DeVos and Vallas' education agendas," said Illinois Families for Public Schools.
Mar 30, 2023
A super PAC with close ties to former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—one of the nation's most fervent supporters of school privatization—has taken an interest in Chicago's April 4 mayoral runoff, spending nearly $60,000 in support of notorious school privatizer Paul Vallas as the contest heads into its final stretch.
Vallas, a right-wing Democrat who previously served as the head of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), is taking on Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, a longtime educator and public school champion whose campaign has been endorsed by prominent national progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The Illinois Federation for Children PAC, which is bankrolled by the DeVos-backed American Federation for Children Action Fund, recently spent $59,385 on digital media supporting Vallas, according to new campaign finance disclosures.
The Illinois super PAC's bare-bones website states that "families should have the choice to enroll their children in the best school to meet their needs, whether it’s a district-assigned public school, homeschool, public charter, private, virtual, or blended-learning school," adding that "this election cycle will be one of the most important in the history of Illinois' school choice movement."
The group has received $465,000 from the American Federation for Children Action Fund, including a recent donation of $65,000. (The American Federation for Children Action Fund is an affiliate of the DeVos-founded American Federation for Children.)
Spotlighting the super PAC's outlay in Chicago's mayoral race, the advocacy group Illinois Families for Public Schools (IFPS) said in a statement that while "DeVos has not endorsed Vallas, Vallas' education plans for Chicago's school system are directly aligned with the DeVos agenda of school privatization, one she supported as secretary of education and promotes through her national network of advocacy organizations and PACs: defunding and dismantling public school systems and redirecting public funds via programs like vouchers to private schools."
"Vallas voices his support for 'a reconstituted system in which parents get to direct the per-pupil public dollars to the school (or education model) of their choosing'... The education platform on Vallas' website calls for 'dismantling the central administration' of CPS," the group continued. "These are exactly the policy goals that DeVos and American Federation for Children are advocating for: 'fund students not systems' and 'dollars must follow students.'"
"As secretary of education, DeVos' education policies were harmful to public schools on a national scale," IFPS added. "Chicago voters should know that DeVos supports Vallas' candidacy, and that there is no daylight between DeVos and Vallas' education agendas."
Johnson, by contrast, has pledged to strengthen Chicago's underfunded public schools. The progressive candidate's top donors are the Chicago Teachers Union PAC and the American Federation of Teachers' Committee on Political Education.
The Illinois Federation for Children PAC's intervention in Chicago's mayoral race is part of a broader assault on public education financed in part by DeVos, a billionaire who has used her fortune to erode public education in her home state of Michigan and nationwide.
NBC News reported Thursday that DeVos' American Federation for Children "poured about $9 million into state elections last year, backing nearly 200 candidates."
"Now, some of those candidates are pushing a wave of legislation boosting DeVos' longtime goal: subsidizing private schools with public dollars," the outlet continued. "Using at least $2.5 million from DeVos and her husband, the American Federation for Children has played a pivotal role in getting what supporters call 'school choice' policies passed into law in at least three states and introduced in several more."
The American Federation for Children's board includes infamous political figures such as former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), both of whom are outspoken supporters of school privatization.
Lieberman—a former Democrat-turned-Independent who is widely reviled by progressives for his role in tanking the prospects of a public option in healthcare more than a decade ago—introduced DeVos at her Senate confirmation hearing in 2017, praising the Trump nominee as a "purpose-driven team builder."
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Rejecting Lightfoot, Chicago Picks Progressive to Face School Privatizer in Mayoral Runoff
Progressive Brandon Johnson will take on conservative Democratic candidate Paul Vallas, who one advocacy group said "has never come across a public school he didn't want to gut."
Mar 01, 2023
Chicago voters rejected Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot's bid for a second term on Tuesday, elevating progressive Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson to face conservative candidate Paul Vallas—an ardent school privatization advocate—in an April 4 runoff.
Johnson, a longtime educator and organizer, advanced to the runoff with roughly 20% of the vote after a grassroots campaign centered on expanding resources for Chicago's public schools and taxing the rich to boost affordable housing, public transportation, healthcare, and other priorities.
"Today, we are on the verge of creating a new Chicago," Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said in a statement applauding Johnson's campaign. "It's a Chicago for the many, not the few—a city where the unhoused can access affordable and sustainable housing, where our public schools are fully funded and provide the support students need, and where our young people can play in safe, welcoming, and thriving communities."
Vallas, though, is seen as the frontrunner, having received 34% of the vote on Tuesday in his second bid for mayor.
U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) received less than 14% of the vote in Tuesday's contest, under Lightfoot's 17%.
The former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Vallas is a longtime proponent of school privatization, having expanded charter schools and other privatization schemes in his home city as well as in Philadelphia and post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.
Far from shying away from his record—which has drawn vocal criticism from lawmakers and officials from the areas where he's attacked public schools—Vallas has pledged to build on it if elected mayor of Chicago.
Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party—which is backing Johnson—said late Tuesday that "the contrast in this runoff could not be clearer."
"In one corner, we have a classroom teacher and union organizer with deep community roots," said Mitchell. "In the other corner, we have conservative Paul Vallas, who is backed by the Trump-supporting Fraternal Order of Police and has never come across a public school he didn't want to gut."
Following Tuesday's vote, Johnson—who has described his opponent's approach to education as "morally bankrupt"—tweeted that "if tonight is proof of anything, it's proof that anything is possible."
"It's proof that we can build a Chicago as big and generous as its promise," he continued. "And it's proof that City Hall can truly belong to the people. Tonight is just the beginning. Thank you, Chicago."
To defeat Vallas, Johnson will have to overcome a likely torrent of opposition spending from dark money organizations that have taken an interest in the race to lead the United States' third-largest city.
As the Chicago Tribune reported last month, groups spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars in the final weeks of the race for mayor" while "hiding where that money is coming from."
One dark money organization, the Chicago Leadership Committee, has "spent more than $165,000 on TV and digital ads for Vallas' mayoral bid," the Tribune reported.
"There's no question even more dark money will flood this election in the coming weeks," Mitchell warned. "The right wing sees our movement gaining momentum and will do everything possible to stop us. But tonight is more proof that organized people can beat organized money. Brandon Johnson has always had the backs of working families, and in April, we'll have his."
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