LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — A political consultant told a New Hampshire jury Wednesday that he doesn’t regret sending voters robocalls that used artificial intelligence to mimic former President Joe Biden and that he’s confident he didn’t break the law.
Steven Kramer, 56, of New Orleans, has long admitted to orchestrating a message sent to thousands of voters two days before New Hampshire’s Jan. 23, 2024, presidential primary. Recipients heard an AI-generated voice similar to the Democratic president’s that used his catchphrase “What a bunch of malarkey” and, as prosecutors allege, suggested that voting in the primary would preclude voters from casting ballots in November.
“It’s important that you save your vote for the November election,” voters were told. “Your votes make a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
Kramer, who faces decades in prison if convicted of voter suppression and impersonating a candidate, said his goal was to send a wake-up call about the potential dangers of AI when he paid a New Orleans magician $150 to create the recording. He was getting frequent calls from people using AI in campaigns, and, worried about the lack of regulations, made it his New Year’s resolution to take action.
“This is going to be my one good deed this year,” he recalled while testifying in Belknap County Superior Court.
He said his goal wasn’t to influence an election, because he didn’t consider the primary a real election. At Biden’s request, the Democratic National Committee dislodged New Hampshire from its traditional early spot in the 2024 nominating calendar but later dropped its threat not to seat the state’s national convention delegates. Biden did not put his name on the ballot or campaign there but won as a write-in.
Kramer, who owns a firm specializing in get-out-the-vote projects, argued that the primary was a meaningless straw poll unsanctioned by the DNC. At the time the calls went out, voters were disenfranchised, he said.
Asked by his attorney, Tom Reid, whether he did anything illegal, Kramer said, “I’m positive I did not.” Later, he said he had no regrets and that his actions likely spurred AI regulations in multiple states.
Kramer, who will be questioned by prosecutors Thursday, also faces a $6 million fine by the Federal Communications Commission but told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he won’t pay it. Lingo Telecom, the company that transmitted the calls, agreed to pay $1 million in a settlement in August.
The robocalls appeared to come from a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair, Kathy Sullivan, and told voters to call her number to be removed from the call list. On the witness stand earlier Wednesday, Sullivan said she was confused and then outraged after speaking to one of the recipients and later hearing the message.
“I hung up the phone and said, ‘There is something really crazy going on,’” she said. “Someone is trying to suppress the vote for Biden. I can’t believe this is happening.”
Months later, she got a call from Kramer in which he said he used her number because he knew she would contact law enforcement and the media. He also described his motive — highlighting AI’s potential dangers — but she didn’t believe him, she testified.
“My sense was he was trying to convince me that he’d done this defensible, good thing,” she said. “I’m listening to this thinking to myself, ‘What does he thing I am, stupid?’ He tried to suppress the vote.”
