Story by Ethan
On June 24th, 2026, the arrest of Jonathan Rinaldi, age 47, was announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Jonathan Rinaldi was charged with three counts of third-degree Forgery and fifteen counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument. The arrest and charges against Jonathan Rinaldi were a result of an investigation handled by the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
According to the Queens District Attorney’s Office, in January 2025 Jonathan Rinaldi had become a candidate for the New York City Council in District 29 in Queens, New York. Both court-authorized subpoena records and search warrants revealed that from January 17th 2025, until November 4th, 2025, Jonathan Rinaldi purposely on routine occasions had created AI-generated images that were uploaded to his official social media accounts. These images falsely depicted endorsements and public support from organizations and individuals that not only didn’t support him, but in fact were in support of the opposing party. Jonathan Rinaldi also allegedly used AI-generated prompts to manufacture false news articles that included the logos and branding of reputable news organizations and also fake AI-generated videos depicting the defendant gaining support from local public institutions that had no political participation.
On October 20th, 2025, Jonathan Rinaldi posted to his social media accounts an altered endorsement sheet using branding and the logo from the Queens Jewish Alliance, misrepresenting their endorsement and stance in the race. The authenticated endorsement sheet from the Queens Jewish Alliance listed the incumbent city council member, however the defendant’s altered version replaced the city council member’s name with “City Council (R) Jonathan Rinaldi”. Several days after the image was posted a recorded phone call between Jonathan Rinaldi and the head of the Queens Jewish Alliance to discuss the fraudulent endorsement sheet and ask for it to be taken down. The defendant responded in sum, “When you are trying to fight against the establishment, I have to use every available tool that’s at my disposal because I already know that … you’re never going to give me your endorsement. It’s politics… I’m just using asymmetrical warfare. I cannot use the same tactics, the same so-called quote unquote, um, uh, uh methods that the establishment uses,”. While the fraudulent endorsement was taken initially down from Jonathan Rinaldi’s social media platforms, it was reuploaded onto his Instagram and Facebook pages on October 29th, 2025.
On October 4th, 2025, Jonathan Rinaldi allegedly posted a fraudulent New York Post article on his Facebook page. The fictitious article contained a photograph of the defendant shaking hands with Robert Holden, a former New York City Council Member. The photograph was titled, “Council Bob Holden Crosses the Aisle to Endorse Rinaldi for City Council District 29,”. The article authored by “Daniel Kurzyna”, the former council member’s then chief-of-staff, made various claims about Jonathan Rinaldi and Robert Holden “launching a bipartisan push” for the community’s benefit. According to records of the defendant’s internet history, approximately two hours before the aforementioned article was posted he had searched on Google “bob holden endorses”. Following this search Jonathan Rinaldi used an AI platform with prompts such as “Take the first image and face swap the man in the left on the second image” with a photo of his own face, then “face swap the man on the left just change the face the head is ok they are both bald just change the face,”. The AI-generated image that was created showed Jonathan Rinaldi shaking hands with the former council member, and this fictitious picture was then used in the aforementioned news article.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Jonathan Rinaldi are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
