During the 2024 New Hampshire primary race, some Granite State voters received recorded telephone calls featuring a voice which resembled that of then President Joe Biden.

Although the individual behind the fake Biden calls was subsequently indicted, a jury has just crushed his charges. 

Political consultant accused of voter suppression

According to The New Hampshire Union Leader, political consultant Steve Kramer was found not guilty this past Friday of 11 felony crimes along with 11 misdemeanors.

The newspaper noted how Kramer had been hired by another consultant who was working for former Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips.

Phillips was challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination, and Kramer produced a recorded call in which Biden appeared to be urging his supporters to stay home.

The calls left the telephone number of former Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sullivan, who testified that she believed Kramer was attempting to suppress voter turnout.

Defendant argued that race was merely a "straw poll"

For his part, the Minnesota Democratic congressman later denied that his campaign had any knowledge of or involvement with the fake calls.

Had he been convicted on all counts in Belknap Superior Court, Kramer faced the prospect of spending decades behind bars.

Steven Kramer, who would have faced decades in prison if convicted, testified that he wanted to send a wake-up call about the potential dangers of AI when he paid a New Orleans magician $150 to create the recording. https://t.co/ijsTWP49Z9

— NBC10 Boston (@NBC10Boston) June 13, 2025

The Union Leader noted how attorney Tom Reid led Kramer's defense, and Judge Elizabeth Leonard allowed him to suggest that the defendant was innocent because New Hampshire's primary race merely functioned as a "straw poll."

This was because the election had not been sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which sought to prioritize South Carolina's primary race.

Kramer has already been fined $6 million by the FCC

"That, ladies and gentlemen, was a brazen attack on your primary. And it wasn’t done by Steve Kramer. He didn’t see it as a real election, because it wasn’t," he asserted.

The defense team maintained that using artificial intelligence to create a voice similar to that of the former president is protected under the First Amendment.

What's more, they went on to contend that Biden had not been impersonated since the former president's name was not used and it did not appear on the ballot.

Following Kramer's acquittal, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella highlighted the fact that the defendant had already been fined $6 million by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).