With the presidential election approaching in two months, U.S. officials are intensifying efforts to combat Russian disinformation campaigns and other attempts to interfere in American politics. This was highlighted on Wednesday when an indictment was unsealed in New York’s Southern District Court.
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| American conservative political commentator Benny Johnson speaks at The People's Convention hosted by Turning Point Action at The Huntington Place in Detroit, MI on June 15, 2024. Photo by Adam J. Dewey/Anadolu via Getty Images |
The indictment revealed sanctions on 10 individuals and entities, the seizure of 32 internet domains, and conspiracy charges against two Russia Today staffers accused of covertly manipulating online influencers to advance the Kremlin's agenda.
Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The pair allegedly funneled nearly $10 million into a Tennessee-based media company, which the DOJ's description closely aligns with Tenet Media, a platform focused on Western political and cultural issues.
The indictment details how Russia Today’s CEO referred to an "empire of covert projects" aimed at influencing Western audiences. This influence continued after RT was banned from broadcasting in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the EU following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are alleged to have directed funds into Tenet Media, using it to disseminate disinformation and propaganda to Western audiences.
Tenet Media has hosted polarizing figures like David Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, whose combined YouTube following exceeds six million subscribers. Pool, formerly with Vice News and Fusion, notably interviewed former president and 2024 GOP nominee Donald Trump in May.
According to internal documents discovered at one of three Russian companies cited by the DOJ, a key objective of the Kremlin’s propaganda efforts was to bolster the candidacy of the GOP nominee in this year’s election.
Tenet Media is owned by Lauren Chen, a right-wing online commentator with a strong following, along with her partner, Liam Donovan, who identifies himself as the company’s CEO on X (formerly known as Twitter). Chen has connections to Turning Points USA, though the organization has since removed pages associated with her and Glenn Beck's The Blaze. Reports indicate that Chen was fired from the media company this week, and her show's page, “Pseudo-Intellectual,” was removed from the network's website.
"Lauren Chen was an independent contractor whose contract has been terminated," BlazeTV CEO Tyler Cardon shared with CNN on Thursday. The indictment released this week did not mention either Chen or Donovan by name.
In the indictment, multiple communications between the unnamed company's founders, labeled “Founder 1” and “Founder 2,” include direct references to “Russia” and “the Russians” as the backers of the company’s activities.
When influencers were approached by Tenet Media, they were told the project was financed by a man named Eduard Grigoriann. However, the Department of Justice asserts that Grigorian was a fabricated identity. Despite one influencer voicing some concerns and doubts about the funding, they still signed a contract, earning a $400,000 monthly fee and a $100,000 signing bonus to produce four weekly videos.
All six influencers involved in the alleged Russian scheme have released statements denying any knowledge of who was funding their work, claiming they were victims of the operation.
“We are troubled by the allegations in today’s indictment, which clearly show that myself and other influencers were misled in this scheme,” wrote Johnson, who was previously involved in a plagiarism scandal in 2014 when Buzzfeed, his former employer, uncovered 41 instances of him copying work from other sources.
Pool, known for his live streaming during the Occupy Wall Street protests and later for running six YouTube channels, including the well-known Timcast, stated that he was “deceived” by Tenet Media and insisted that his show remains independent in its editorial decisions.
“Should these allegations be proven true, both I and the other personalities were deceived and are victims of this scheme,” Pool wrote on X. “Our local team entirely produces the show without any outside influence.”
Rubin, who transitioned from New York’s comedy scene into political commentary and now hosts The Rubin Report, a political talk show on YouTube and BlazeTV, also claimed to be a victim of the scheme following the unsealing of the indictment.
“These allegations clearly show that both I and other commentators were victims of this scheme,” he wrote in a statement posted to X. “I had no knowledge of any fraudulent activities. Period. The DoJ has never contacted me, and I do not plan to comment further on this matter.”
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