One morning last October, leaders of the Queens Jewish Alliance (QJA) discovered an official-looking political endorsement circulating on social media that bore the organization’s logo and purported to announce its support for Republican City Council candidate Jonathan Rinaldi. There was only one problem: The organization had never endorsed him. Like many civic organizations, QJA interviews candidates and issues endorsements intended to help voters evaluate local races.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, the flyer was part of what prosecutors describe as a months-long effort in which Rinaldi, 47, used AI and other digital tools to create what prosecutors allege were counterfeit campaign materials, manipulated images, and fabricated news reports intended to mislead District 29 voters. On June 24, Rinaldi was arrested outside his Forest Hills home and arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on three counts of third-degree forgery and 15 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
Unlike typical investigations into online deception, investigators from the DA’s office constructed this case using digital evidence obtained through search warrants and subpoenas. Server records, Internet search histories, account modifications, and software logs allowed investigators to reconstruct Rinaldi’s alleged process before the materials appeared online.
On October 20, 2025, Rinaldi allegedly posted an altered version of an authentic QJA endorsement sheet. While the group’s actual document endorsed the incumbent, prosecutors allege the text was digitally replaced to read “City Council (R) Jonathan Rinaldi,” while retaining QJA’s logo and formatting. According to the complaint, when QJA leadership later confronted Rinaldi about the flyer in a recorded phone call, Rinaldi defended his actions as necessary to fight “the establishment,” describing his tactics as “asymmetrical warfare.”
Two weeks prior, on October 4, Rinaldi allegedly posted what appeared to be a New York Post article showing him shaking hands with Democratic Council Member Robert Holden beneath a headline claiming an endorsement. Prosecutors state that subpoenaed records showed that just two hours before the post appeared, Rinaldi had searched Google for “bob holden endorses” and entered a prompt into an AI platform to perform a face swap, with the user instructions reading: “just change the face the head is ok they are both bald just change the face.”
The complaint further details how artificial intelligence tools were allegedly used to create deceptive campaign content targeting incumbent Council Member Lynn Schulman, including a computer-generated video that mimicked a television news broadcast and falsely claimed she had withdrawn from the race. Other synthetic clips allegedly depicted local police officers and schoolchildren expressing support for his campaign.
The prosecution has attracted attention because it relies on longstanding criminal forgery statutes rather than pursuing remedies under New York’s more recent laws addressing deceptive AI-generated political communications. Under New York Penal Law § 170.05, a person is guilty of third-degree forgery when: “...with intent to defraud, deceive or injure another, he falsely makes, completes, or alters a written instrument.”
A central issue likely to be litigated is whether digital graphic files, replicated newspaper layouts, and computer-generated video clips meet the legal definition of a “written instrument” under the law. Historically, the statute has been applied to physical documents such as checks and contracts. It defines a written instrument as anything containing written or printed matter used to convey information or constitute evidence of identification. Prosecutors contend that altering a digital document or endorsement to deceive voters can fall within the same forgery statutes historically applied to paper documents.
The outcome of this case could influence how courts and prosecutors in New York evaluate future allegations involving fabricated political endorsements and digitally altered campaign materials.
Rinaldi has chosen to frame the prosecution as an overreach that threatens political discourse. In comments to reporters and phone interviews following his arraignment, Rinaldi called the case a free-speech issue. “I got arrested for social media posts,” he stated. “This is an issue that strikes at the heart of our First Amendment freedoms – not just for me, but for everybody.” He declined to confirm or deny creating the disputed materials.
The forgery arraignment came one day after Rinaldi was defeated by incumbent Andrew Hevesi in the Democratic primary for State Assembly. During that campaign, Hevesi publicly accused Rinaldi of submitting fraudulent election paperwork, an allegation Rinaldi denied. Rinaldi is scheduled to return before Queens Criminal Court Judge Indira Khan on August 19.
Editor’s Note: The author serves as treasurer of the Queens Jewish Alliance, one of the organizations identified in the criminal complaint as an alleged victim of document alteration. This article is based on the publicly filed criminal complaint, official statements from the Queens District Attorney’s Office, and other publicly available reporting.
By Shabsie Saphirstein
