Ah, check it out, the same names behind almost every sleazy, dirty trick in Oklahoma politics are doing it again, just skirting the fringes of legality, as their custom is. If it's dirty, questionable, or unethical, you can almost bet money that political consulting firm CAMP or someone with ties to consultant Fount Holland is behind it:
News 4 investigates: PAC running AI-generated anti-Mazzei ad tied to firm running Drummond campaign
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The man behind a political group running a controversial AI-generated attack ad in Oklahoma’s governor’s race also holds a top position at the firm running a different candidate’s campaign—raising questions about whether the two are illegally coordinating.
The group’s ad targets Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei. The firm in question runs the campaign of opponent Gentner Drummond.
Mazzei’s campaign accuses the group of illegally coordinating with Drummond’s campaign. The group and Drummond’s campaign both deny it.
The ad is only 15 seconds long, but it grabbed significant attention this week. “Trump’s MAGA movement, crushed by Hillary Clinton if Mike Mazzei got his way,” the ad says. “Mazzei voted to remove Oklahoma from the Electoral College, going to a national popular vote, rigging the system for Crooked Hillary. Clinton lover, Trump hater. That’s Mike Mazzei.”
At a glance, the ad appears to show footage of Mazzei and Hillary Clinton together in the Oval Office before ending with a warm embrace—but it’s entirely fake, generated by artificial intelligence.
“When you look at something like that, it’s generated from nothing,” said Tim Gilpin, a former assistant Oklahoma attorney general. “We’re in a whole new era where I can generate your image, my image or another, and it looks pretty darned real unless you look close. They can also do it with voices.”
Just hours after the ad began running Wednesday, Mazzei’s campaign put out a press release slamming it as a “sleazy attack” by a “dark money political action committee.”
Political action committees, or PACs, are groups legally allowed to raise as much money as they want, from whoever they want, to run political ads about whatever they want—but Gilpin says they cannot coordinate with a candidate’s campaign.
“[PACs] cannot work directly with the candidate,” Gilpin said. “So if they do, then there are plenty of laws that violates. So in theory, they’re not working with the candidate.” Gilpin says that’s because allowing a PAC to work with a candidate’s campaign would essentially let candidates skirt campaign fundraising limits by continuing to raise money through the PAC.
Mazzei’s campaign claims that’s exactly what’s happening—alleging in their press release the PAC behind the ad is “tied to Gentner Drummond,” calling it “a testament to Drummond’s appalling lack of ethics.” News 4 set out to verify that claim.
The fine print on the ad identifies the PAC behind it as “Make Oklahoma Great Again.” News 4 found Make Oklahoma Great Again also runs another ad attacking Mazzei and other candidates in the governor’s race, while praising Drummond. “While liberal never Trumpers lie about Gentner Drummond and talk about what they’ll do with President Trump, Gentner Drummond, a MAGA man has already done it,” the other ad says.
That ad also contains a picture depicting Drummond with President Trump—a picture that also appears on the homepage of Drummond’s official campaign website. The picture appears to show signs of AI generation or some sort of manipulation, containing an unintelligible design on what is supposed to be the U.S. Presidential seal, and U.S. flags with stars that appear smudged and blob-like. Drummond’s campaign denies the photo is AI generated, claiming it’s a real image taken at an event in North Carolina.
As for whether Drummond’s campaign and Make Oklahoma Great Again illegally coordinated to share the image between each other, Gilpin says there could be a more innocent explanation. “In some campaigns you will see these dark money groups go ahead and make an image or put something out there—for the idea that the candidate can then pick it up and use it,” Gilpin said. “As long as there is no coordination.”
The fine print in both ads lists an address for Make Oklahoma Great Again at an office in downtown Tulsa. News 4 visited the office. Despite a sign on the door confirming it was occupied by Make Oklahoma Great Again, nobody answered the door. News 4 also called the phone number listed in the ads and left a voicemail.
News 4 also reviewed Make Oklahoma Great Again’s financial filings. According to the group’s January campaign finance report, Make Oklahoma Great Again received just one donation: $900,000 from a nonprofit called “Oklahoma Leadership Advocacy Group Incorporated,” tied to a P.O. box in Glenpool. On that group’s website, it offers multiple ways to donate—including mailing a check to that same P.O. box, or by coordinating with someone named Jarred Brejcha.
Brejcha is a former commissioner of the Oklahoma Ethics Commission—and is also the chief operating officer of a consulting firm called CAMP Political. News 4 found CAMP Political also runs Drummond’s official campaign.
Drummond’s campaign pays the group hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to campaign finance records. Brejcha later returned News 4’s voicemail and agreed to an interview.
Charles McCall appointed Brejca to the Ethics commission. McCall and Drummond must both be desperate to take down Mike Mazzei
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