A news outlet's retracted story about Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai has raised new questions about an apparently altered photograph, two weeks before voters decide the county chair race.

The Oregon Journalism Project on Oct. 19 published a story calling a viral video of Fai speaking in front of an upside-down American flag a "deepfake." By the afternoon of Oct. 20, the outlet retracted the story, saying newly obtained images confirmed the flag was, in fact, upside down.

The episode centers on an Oct. 10 event in Minneapolis where Fai spoke to a group representing African refugees and immigrants, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Video from the event went viral after the conservative X account "End Wokeness" shared a clip on Oct. 15 with its nearly 4 million followers, according to Axios Portland. Fai is running against fellow Commissioner Pam Treece for chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners in the Nov. 3 election.

The Oregon Journalism Project's now-deleted article featured a screenshot showing the flag right-side up. The outlet originally credited the image to Fai but later clarified in its retraction that a "Fai campaign supporter" provided it.

That image shows apparent digital inconsistencies, the Beaverton Valley Times reported. A section of the flag in the lower-left corner appears misaligned, and a corner of a star appears to be missing near the top.

KATU reported finding cached Google photos from the Somali TV Minnesota Facebook page showing Fai and other speakers at the same podium with the flag upside down. A deleted YouTube video's thumbnail also showed the upside-down flag, according to KATU.

Accounts differ on who supplied the disputed image.

Fai's campaign manager, Brooke Hill, told The Oregonian/OregonLive on Oct. 19 she would forward screenshots and original video showing the flag positioned correctly. About six hours later, Hill wrote in an email that the campaign had "no online material produced or approved by the campaign" related to the video.

Fai told The Oregonian/OregonLive by phone on Oct. 20 that her campaign did not send the image to the Oregon Journalism Project. She told Axios the same day that neither she nor her campaign supplied it. When KATU asked Fai directly after a board of commissioners meeting on Oct. 20, she said her team received only material already circulating online and did not produce or approve anything. The Beaverton Valley Times reported Fai did not respond to its request for comment.

Fai told multiple outlets she did not know how the flag was oriented when she spoke and said she would never intentionally stand in front of an upside-down flag.

Before the retraction, Fai shared the Oregon Journalism Project's article on her campaign Facebook page, writing, "This is a prime example of how AI can attempt to interfere with political campaigns and destroy people's reputations and lives." The Democratic Party of Oregon and U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter also condemned the video as a deepfake in social media posts that have since been deleted, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Oregon Journalism Project editor James Neff declined to describe the steps his organization took to verify the images in the original story but said the outlet acted "immediately" when it learned the story was inaccurate, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Axios also retracted its own version of the story, which it said was primarily based on the Oregon Journalism Project's reporting.

Fai led the May primary with 39.1% of the vote to Treece's 33.1%, according to the Hillsboro News Times. Ballots were mailed Oct. 14 and are due by 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.