Disinformation use in Ala. race may be illegal, state AG says

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Thursday that his office is exploring whether disinformation tactics deployed against Republican Roy Moore during last year’s special election violated state campaign laws and that he was worried the operation could have affected the closely fought Senate race.

“The information is concerning,” said Marshall, a Republican. “The impact it had on the election is something that’s significant for us to explore, and we’ll go from there.”

Moore lost the election to Democrat Doug Jones.

Marshall, who said he learned of the disinformation campaign called Project Birmingham through news reports over the past two weeks, stopped short of announcing a formal investigation but said his office is gathering information about the effort.

Jones reiterated his support for a federal investigation into the matter.

Internet billionaire Reid Hoffman apologized Wednesday for giving $750,000 to a group, American Engagement Technologies, that allegedly had ties to an effort to undermine support for Moore and bolster Jones.

Jonathon Morgan, chief executive of Texas-based research firm New Knowledge, has acknowledged being paid by American Engagement Technologies to experiment on a small scale with disinformation tactics, including creating a Facebook page that sought to appeal to Republicans who might not support Moore. Morgan has repeatedly denied that he attempted to affect the outcome of the election or that he had any role in the broader efforts of Project Birmingham.