A Russian official said Morgan Freeman was "weaponized" by the United States in a recent YouTube video, in which the actor addresses Russia's alleged interference in the presidential election, The Daily Mail reported.
The video was commissioned and uploaded by the newly formed Committee to Investigate Russia (CIR) and begins with Freeman saying: "We have been attacked. We are at war."
The two-minute video includes the Oscar-winner stating that Vladimir Putin and Russia interfered in the 2016 election, used cyber warfare to secretly attack democracies and spread propaganda and false information on social media.
Calling on President Donald Trump to address the issue, Freeman says, "We need him to sit behind the desk in the Oval Office and say, 'My fellow Americans, during this past election, we came under attack by the Russian government. I’ve called on Congress and our intelligence community to use every resource available to conduct a thorough investigation to determine exactly how this happened.'"
The Daily Mail reported that Russia believes Freeman was "roped in" to his role in the video.
According to the Daily Mail, a Facebook post by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova translated by TASS Russian News Agency said, "Morgan Freeman has been roped in, just like Colin Powell."
Zakharova also discussed recent reports that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was wiretapped by the FBI.
"The goal is to legitimize the post-election lawlessness," she said.
In a recent phone interview with The Daily Beast, filmmaker and CIR advisory committee member Rob Reiner said he commissioned Freeman to deliver this message because of the "weight and gravitas" his voice carries.
The Daily Beast interview also reported that other members of the CIR committee advisory board are a bipartisan group of Trump opponents that includes conservative radio host Charlie Sykes and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
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