A covert Russian influence campaign allegedly funneled $10 million to support a U.S. media company hosting right-wing commentators such as Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, and Tim Pool, according to a new Justice Department indictment. The indictment accuses two employees of Russian state-controlled media outlet RT of acting as unregistered foreign agents and laundering $9.7 million to a Tennessee-based company in an effort to promote pro-Kremlin content.
The employees, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, remain at large, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The media company, which allegedly produced nearly 2,000 videos and amassed over 16 million views on YouTube, is suspected to be Tenet Media, a Nashville-based outlet.
The indictment suggests that Tenet’s founders, including Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan, allegedly deceived conservative influencers to spread content aligning with Russian propaganda. Although the content creators were not explicitly named in the indictment, the description matches that of popular figures like Johnson, Rubin, and Pool. Subscriber numbers also align, with one unnamed influencer receiving a $100,000 signing bonus and earning $400,000 per month, while Pool was paid $100,000 per video.
The alleged operation spanned from October 2023 to August 2024, with influencers earning at least $8.7 million through wire transfers from shell companies in Turkey, the UAE, and Mauritius. RT is accused of initially funding these shell companies, masking the payments as electronic goods transactions.
The videos, which discussed topics such as immigration and inflation, were said to promote divisive U.S. political issues that supported Russia’s geopolitical goals, including undermining support for Ukraine. One video reportedly suggested blaming Ukraine and the U.S. for a terror attack in Moscow.
Commentators like Johnson and Pool have responded to the allegations, expressing their shock at the indictment. Johnson stated that he and others were victims of deception, while Pool emphasized that his show, “The Culture War Podcast,” maintained editorial independence despite being licensed by Tenet Media.
Reps for Tenet Media have not yet commented on the allegations.
