Meet the magician who says he’s behind the fake Biden robocall: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the on the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

Today’s edition features exclusive reporting from senior politics reporter Alex Seitz-Wald on a magician who says a Democratic operative paid him to use artificial intelligence to impersonate President Joe Biden for a robocall. Plus, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker breaks down the political whiplash Republicans experienced on IVF this week.

Meet the magician who says he’s behind the fake Biden robocall

By Alex Seitz-Wald

When a nomadic magician emails and says he utilized artificial intelligence to create the audio that was used in a robocall trying to discourage Joe Biden’s supporters from voting in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, what do you do? Get on the phone.

That’s how Paul Carpenter’s story came to my attention.

Carpenter kept receipts. And text messages. And the audio file used in the call. And he says that all amounts to proof that he was hired by a Democratic political operative named Steve Kramer who has worked for Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign this cycle.

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Carpenter has led a mostly peripatetic existence for his adult life, traveling to, he says, 24 countries and making money through performances and odd jobs, staying with friends or in cheap short-term lodgings.

He has never held a full-time job for long, he says, due to a combination of mental health issues, conflicts with bosses, and a lifestyle choice to never be tied down or “owned” by anyone.

After a diagnosis with bipolar disorder, he adopted a Chihuahua-dachshund mix named