Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst today sent a letter to Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch asking her to investigate Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom for a potential violation of Miss. Code § 97-13-47.
That statute makes it a crime to knowingly spread a deceptive AI-generated “digitization” of a candidate within 90 days of an election. The letter also asks the Attorney General to seek an injunction under the statute that would bar Colom from using this video or similar AI content.
On October 1, 2026, Colom’s campaign posted a 19-second deepfake, AI-generated video to Facebook and Instagram. It shows a woman resembling U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde- Smith, whom the narrator calls “Cindy,” looking frightened as she runs from a large crowd of reporters and gets into a car. Neither post said the video was made with AI. Both posts simply stated: “Based on a true story.”
“Mississippi law is clear. You cannot manufacture a fake video of your opponent and pass it off to voters as real in the final weeks of an election,” said Chairman Hurst. “Scott Colom didn’t label this video as artificial intelligence. Instead, he claimed it was ‘based on a true story.’ That isn’t satire. It isn’t parody. It’s deception, and Mississippi voters deserve better.”
What actually happened
The video appears to refer to one encounter on Capitol Hill between Sen. Hyde-Smith and a single correspondent for The Don Lemon Show. In footage of that exchange, the Senator smiles and tells the reporter nine times that she does not do hallway interviews. She asked Capitol Police for help only after the reporter kept following her. She did not run from a crowd of reporters.
Why the law applies
The letter walks through each element of § 97-13-47:
• A digitization. The video is a deepfake AI-generated video that shows conduct a reasonable person would believe Sen. Hyde-Smith engaged in, though she did not.
• Knowledge. In media interviews, Colom has acknowledged that the video is AI-generated and has alleged that it is “based on a true story.”
• Timing. It was posted on October 1, 2026: 33 days before the November 3, 2026 general election.
• No consent. Sen. Hyde-Smith did not consent to the video.
• Intent. It was posted to injure a candidate, influence the outcome of the election and/or deter people from voting.
Not satire, not parody
The statute exempts satire and parody, but Colom has defended the video as factual. He told the Mississippi Free Press: “I’m portraying a true story.” He told WAPT News that his campaign was “trying to get young peoples’ attention.”
The video has drawn more than 4,000 likes and more than 400 shares across the two platforms, and it is still posted. During WAPT’s coverage, a voter told the video wasn’t real reacted with surprise and asked, “It’s not real, right?”
A pattern
This is not the first time Colom has used fabricated content against Sen. Hyde-Smith. When he launched his campaign in 2025, he posted what appeared to be a phone call with Senator Hyde-Smith. The Mississippi Republican Party referred that incident to the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney.
“Scott Colom is a licensed attorney, an officer of the court, and a sitting District Attorney – the chief law enforcement officer for an entire judicial district. It is sad when those elected to uphold the law refuse to follow it themselves,” Hurst said. “Mississippi voters deserve the truth, not manufactured images designed to mislead them about their elected officials. We are calling on the Attorney General will investigate these criminal violations, put an end to these criminal acts, and show Mississippians that no one is above the law.”
The request
The Mississippi Republican Party asks the Attorney General to:
1. Investigate the potential violations of Miss. Code § 97-13-47.
2. Seek an injunction against Colon under Subsection (4)(a) barring further use of this video and other unlawful deepfake content.
3. Direct Colom and his campaign to preserve all related evidence and stop further violations.
A copy of the letter can be read here.