Senator Mike Lee Duped by AI-Generated Fed Resignation Hoax on X, Raising Credibility Concerns

Senator Mike Lee, the Republican from Utah, recently garnered attention for an excited tweet promoting a fabricated resignation letter from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The incident, quickly debunked, marks another instance of the prominent senator falling for apparent AI-generated disinformation on social media, prompting questions about online credibility and the spread of fake news.

On Tuesday, Senator Lee posted a now-deleted tweet, captured in a screenshot by writer Ben Jacobs, declaring, “Powell’s out!” Accompanying his statement was a letter purporting to be from Powell, announcing his resignation effective July 22, 2025, due to the need for “new leadership” at the Federal Reserve. However, a closer inspection of the document revealed glaring red flags.

Anatomy of an AI-Generated Hoax

The deceptive letter exhibited several tell-tale signs of being artificially generated. It contained noticeable typos and formatting inconsistencies, such as a random comma followed by a capitalized letter as if starting a new sentence – an error atypical of formal correspondence. Furthermore, the word “institution’s” was awkwardly split across two lines, a clear deviation from standard word processing practices. Most revealing was a large, garbled watermark across the document, a common characteristic of content produced by generative AI tools, often indicating a low-quality or unfinished output.

While the exact origin of the fake letter remains unclear, it appears Senator Lee sourced it from one of the many accounts on X (formerly Twitter) that were actively spreading the false narrative. The platform has become a notorious hotbed for unverified information, with users often rushing to share unauthenticated documents without proper source attribution. The significant difference, however, lies in Lee’s status as a sitting U.S. Senator, placing him among the nation’s most influential figures, whose social media activity carries substantial weight and can inadvertently amplify misinformation.

A Recurring Pattern: Lee’s History with Fake News

Senator Lee was not alone in being misled; far-right influencer Benny Johnson also shared a screenshot of the fraudulent letter. Yet, what makes this recent blunder particularly noteworthy is Lee’s established history of susceptibility to online hoaxes on X, especially since the platform’s acquisition by Elon Musk.

Remarkably, almost a year to the day before the Powell hoax – on July 23, 2024 – Lee fell for a similar deception: a tweet claiming the death of former President Jimmy Carter. That particular hoax was even more egregiously fake, with the fabricated Carter letter making crude references, including calling former First Lady Nancy Reagan a “throat goat” and Rosalynn Carter “the original Brat.” While President Carter did pass away months later on December 29, 2024, the absurdity of the earlier hoax underscored the ease with which Lee has been duped.

Why the Susceptibility?

Given his background as a law school graduate, the question persists: why does Senator Mike Lee, a figure expected to exercise critical judgment, so consistently fall prey to such transparently fake social media content? His repeated endorsement of verifiable misinformation raises significant concerns about digital literacy, source verification, and the broader challenge of combating disinformation in the public sphere. For political figures, maintaining online credibility is paramount, and these incidents serve as a stark reminder of the ever-present need for vigilance in the age of AI-driven fake news.