A controversial pol and serial sperm donor used phony AI-generated endorsements to try to scam his way into a city council seat, Queens prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jonathan Rinaldi, 47, who has become known as the “Sperminator,” was arraigned on three counts of forgery and 15 counts of possession of a forged instrument for posting false articles claiming to be from The Post and other outlets, prosecutors said.

Rinaldi allegedly started the scam shortly after announcing he was running for the council’s District 29 seat in Queens, routinely subbing out legit poll results and news articles on his social media accounts with phony AI content.

The accused fraudster was all smiles in court, and remained defiant in an interview with The Post after leaving court.

“We all know that if I won, I’d be in the DA’s office talking politics, shop right now,” he said. “That’s the way it goes.

“Everybody should be up in arms and coming to get my back here,” he added. “What are they going to do? Start regulating people’s campaigns?”

The accused fraudster also claimed First Amendment rights.

“The First Amendment is absolute,” he said. “And I’m allowed just like anybody else to make any kind of content that I want.”

But prosecutors said he crossed the line.

On October 20, he used the Queens Jewish Alliance logo to claim the organization backed his run — when it didn’t.

When the head of the QJA called him on the ruse, Rinaldi shamelessly admitted he had to cut corners, the DA said.

“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,” he allegedly said in a recorded call.

“It’s politics,” he allegedly said. “I’m just using asymmetrical warfare. I cannot use the same tactics, the same so-called, quote-unquote, methods that the establishment uses.”

Rinaldi is also accused of posting a fake Post article on Facebook on Oct. 4, claiming former Councilman Robert Holden was endorsing him in the race — creating the faux report with a Google search and an AI-generated image.

In other phony posts on Facebook and Instagram, he allegedly claimed endorsements by the NYPD 112th Precinct, PS 101 elementary school, and the Asian Wave Alliance — even using AI-created videos to try to sell the lie.

None of it was real, and the groups do not issue political endorsements. 

On Oct. 24, he even fabricated a phony news article that claimed his opponent had dropped out of the race, the DA said.

“Rinaldi posted several similar fake articles on the same topic: one article was generated using CNN branding, another used the Daily News branding, and two additional videos were manufactured to mimic fictitious broadcasts,” prosecutors said.

“Enough is enough,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement. “In today’s world, it is important to hold people accountable for materially misrepresenting facts.”

Rinaldi, a Republican who has unsuccessfully run for local and state office in the past, often without party backing.

He has been accused of political shenanigans in the past, and was arrested for disrupting a Queens polling place in 2023.

In April, longtime Queens lawmaker Alan Hevesi accused Rinaldi of trying to knock him off the Democratic line by falsifying Hevesi’s voter registration to the Working Families Party. 

He is also a controversial figure outside the political arena.

He has bragged in the past that he “saves” women who receive his “superior” sperm from spending thousands of dollars on sperm banks and fertility treatments – and said he prefers to seal the deal with a simple handshake.

He has also said he sacrifices all parental rights and decisions but tries to ensure that the recipients of his sperm can financially support the children.

He is due back in court in August on the fraud counts.