New York City Council candidate is accused of forgery over AI-generated posts

A former New York City Council candidate has been charged with forgery over allegations he used artificial intelligence to post fake endorsements and news articles on social media.

Jonathan Rinaldi was arrested outside his home Wednesday and could face up to two years in prison if convicted. The 47-year-old ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a council seat from Queens last year.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not generally protect fraudulent statements, but in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Rinaldi called it a matter of free-speech. He said he would not confirm or deny that he made the posts or generated the images at issue.

“I got arrested for social media posts,” Rinaldi said. “This is an issue that strikes at the heart of our First Amendment freedoms — not just for me, but for everybody.”

Among the false posts he's accused of having made — primarily on Facebook and Instagram — was one claiming an endorsement from the Queens Jewish Alliance. Prosecutors say the post used the authentic logo of the organization as well as a legitimate-looking endorsement sheet.

The complaint says the head of the Queens Jewish Alliance confronted him in a recorded phone call, and Rinaldi responded, “When you are trying to fight against the establishment, I have to use every available tool that’s at my disposal."

In another post, Rinaldi fabricated a New York Post story claiming that then-Council Member Robert Holden, a Democrat, had crossed the aisle to endorse him, the Queens district attorney said.

According to the charges, the fake story was accompanied by a doctored photo that appeared to show Holden shaking his hand — an image that Rinaldi prompted an AI platform to generate: “face swap the man on the left.”

“just change the face the head is ok they are both bald just change the face,” the prompt read, according to the charges.

“In today’s world it is important to hold people accountable for materially misrepresenting facts,” District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release. “As alleged, the defendant used AI to replace factual political support and launched fabricated attacks against his opponent as fact in a deliberate effort to mislead voters ahead of a City Council election.”

The rapid spread of AI has posed myriad problems for lawmakers, as they try to get a handle on increasingly realistic — but fake — images, from deepfake pornography to other types of fraud. Over half of states have regulated the use of AI in elections to protect voters from being misled; many require disclosure, and some have also adopted criminal penalties. Some have exemptions for clear satire.

A New York law adopted in 2024 requires disclosures of deepfakes in campaign materials and allows candidates who are targeted by them to go to court to block their dissemination.

Still, the accessible technology has punctuated U.S. races this year. In a GOP U.S. House primary in Kentucky, for example, an AI-created ad depicted Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie going on a romantic date and then to a hotel room with progressive U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

The laws Rinaldi is accused of violating — third-degree forgery and possession of forged instruments — predate AI. Under New York law, a person commits third-degree forgery when they falsely make, complete or alter “a written instrument” with the intent to defraud, deceive or injure another. A “written instrument” is defined in part as written or printed matter, including online writings, conveying information “capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person.”

The district attorney's complaint alleges myriad instances of Rinaldi using AI to generate doctored photos, including some of his Democratic opponent, Lynn Schulman, appearing to wear a shirt that read “Hot Girls for Zohran.” The language of the prompt cited in the complaint suggests the reference to the city's Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, was intended to hurt her support in the largely Jewish neighborhood of Forest Hills, where they were campaigning.

The district attorney said Rinaldi further posted AI-generated videos appearing to show endorsements from a police precinct and an elementary school — public institutions which do not allow political endorsements.

Rinaldi also was on the ballot in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for state Assembly, where he was trounced by incumbent Andrew Hevesi. During the campaign Hevesi accused Rinaldi of fraudulently submitting documents to change his party registration, rendering him ineligible for the primary.

Hevesi subsequently changed his party registration back. Rinaldi told The New York Times he denied having submitted the paperwork.