After the start of the trial of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the US, on April 4, a number of Trump-linked images started circulating on Facebook.
Georgian-language Facebook user “Gabi Kamaev” published a photo of Donald Trump leading his supporters. According to the description, Trump is headed for trial. In addition, on April 4, photos showing the alleged arrest of Donald Trump were published by the Facebook page affiliated with the Georgian pro-Kremlin “Alliance of Patriots” party.
Photos of Trump’s alleged arrest were published by the Kazakh media Новости Казахстан and Russian-language Facebook accounts (1,2).
The viral photos are generated by Artificial Intelligence and do not depict the arrest of Donald Trump.
The photo posted by the Georgian-language Facebook user was first published by Twitter user Brick Suit on April 3. The name of the account is indicated in the lower right corner of the photo.
In the comments section of the post, the user noted that the photo was created by artificial intelligence.
It should be noted that the post is currently accompanied by a warning that the post does not reflect reality.
In addition, on closer inspection, it is noticeable that the image is generated by artificial intelligence, as the faces of people in the photo are depicted with noticeable flaws.
As for the photos showing Trump’s arrest, they were published on March 21 by Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of the investigative publication Bellingcat.
Higgins created the photos using the artificial intelligence program Midjourney.
When looking at the images, especially the hands, it can be seen that artificial intelligence generated them with some flaws.
AI-generated photos of Donald Trump’s arrest have been going viral on the internet since March 2023. On March 18, Donald Trump announced that he would likely be arrested on Tuesday, March 21. The AI-generated photos of his arrest were linked mainly to this statement.
On March 30, the grand jury of the Manhattan court supported the indictment of Donald Trump. He appeared in court on April 4. Upon arriving at the court, Trump was formally arrested. Trump has been charged with falsifying business documents 34 times. The 45th president of the US has pleaded not guilty. Donald Trump is the first US president to face criminal charges.
The charges against Trump are related to the hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Before the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels USD 130,000 not to disclose information about his 2007 sexual relationship with Trump. Documents related to the case allege that Donald Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified business records to conceal criminal behaviour.
According to prosecutors, within ten months of becoming President in 2017, Trump sent attorney Michael Cohen checks billed as “legal fees,” although Cohen said the money was intended to reimburse Daniels for USD 130,000. According to the case details, the accounts of these payments were falsified, there was no cooperation document between Trump and Cohen, the money was not intended to pay for Cohen’s legal services, and Trump falsified business accounts to cover up his and others’ criminal activities.
Notably, paying someone to withhold information isn’t illegal per se; however, spending money on a presidential campaign without declaring it violates federal campaign finance law. Trump’s lawyer was convicted for just such a violation – the fact of his payment to Stormy Daniels was not declared. According to the prosecution, Trump’s payment of this amount to Cohen links Trump to the crime, making his falsification of business accounts a more severe crime.
About the Source
Gabi Kamaev
Gabi Kamaev is a pro-governmental Facebook account, sharing content mostly in support of the incumbent “Georgian Dream” and against the opposition. Disinformation disseminated by the Facebook account was fact-checked by “Myth Detector” a number of times in the past. For more, see:
- Did Zelenskyy Admit that Ukraine Cannot Overcome Russia’s Advantage? (in Georgian)
- Disinformation about Elene Khoshtaria Allegedly Spraying Police Officer with Paint Spreads in a Coordinated Manner
Archive links of the Facebook posts: 1,2,3,4
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