‘Secret’ Russian influence campaign paid $10M to prop up right-wing US commentators: indictment
A “secret” Russian influence campaign allegedly paid $10 million to prop up a media company hosting what it saw as like-minded, right-wing commentators in the US — including popular pundits like Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin and Tim Pool.
The Justice Department indicted two employees of the Russian state-controlled media outlet RT on Wednesday for acting as unregistered foreign agents and laundering $9.7 million in payments to a Tennessee media company to allegedly promote pro-Kremlin propaganda.
The employees, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, are at large, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, after floating for almost a year the media entity that “posted nearly 2,000 videos that have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone.”
Neither the company nor the content creators associated with it were named in the indictment, though other details point to it being the Nashville-based Tenet Media, whose founders allegedly “deceived” conservative influencers that may have included Johnson, Rubin and Pool.
The description of the company in the indictment matches Tenet’s own description on its website as “a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.”
Tennessee Department of State records also confirm Tenet incorporated as a business on Jan. 19, 2022, the same date mentioned in the indictment.
Other business records and identifying characteristics in the unsealed indictment point to Lauren Chen — a former RT commentator who now works as a host for BlazeTV and as a contributor to the conservative Turning Point USA — as the primary founder of Tenet, along with her husband, Liam Donovan.
YouTube subscriber counts for two unnamed commentators in the filing further correspond with those of either Johnson (2.4 million) or Rubin (2.4 million) and Pool (1.3 million).
Either Johnson or Rubin received a $100,000 signing bonus and netted $400,000 per month, while Pool received $100,000 per video.
Along with a third unnamed Tenet commentator, the conservative influencers raked in at least $8.7 million from Tenet between October 2023 and August 2024 via dozens of wire transfers from shell companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Mauritius.
Those shell companies initially received their funding from RT, and the subsequent payouts to Tenet were shielded not as salary payments but for electronic merchandise such as “BUYING GOODS-INV.013-IPHONE 15 PRO MAX 512GB.”
Afanasyeva used fictitious personas to coax the conservative provocateurs into signing on for the shooting, editing and posting of hundreds of videos, which included commentary on immigration, inflation and other domestic and foreign policy issues.
“While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Government of Russia interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine,” federal prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
In one example, Afanasyeva wanted Tenet commentators to “blame Ukraine and the United States” for the ISIS terror attack on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024.
Other videos that the Russian agents sought to amplify apparently included former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s visit to a Moscow supermarket.
Afanasyeva fabricated the “accomplished” financier named Eduard Grigoriann as the Western European professional behind the funding, though either Johnson or Rubin apparently took issue with a fake copy of his CV listing proud advocacy for “social justice” causes.
“A year ago, a media startup pitched my company to provide content as an independent contractor,” Johnson said in a statement posted to X. “Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated. We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme. My lawyers will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise.”
“Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims,” Pool said in a statement posted on X. “I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed.”
“The Culture War Podcast was licensed by Tenet Media, it existed well before any license agreement with Tenet and it will continue to exist after any such agreement expires. The only change with the agreement was that the location of the live broadcast moved to Tenet’s Youtube Channel,” he also said.
“Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show and the contents of the show are often apolitical. Examples include discussing spirituality, dating, and videos games,” he added.
“The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company,” he went on, stressing the separation between the podcast and his popular “Timcast” programming.
Rubin retweeted an X post noting that the influencers were “deceived” about the source of the funding.
Reps for Tenet Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.