Topline
The Justice Department filed an indictment Wednesday, accusing the Kremlin of pouring millions into a media company linked to prominent online right-wing commentators as part of an influence operation pushing pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation on social media.
The Kremlin allegedly funneled $10 million into a media company linked to several popular right-wing … [+] online influencers.
Key Facts
The DOJ’s indictment does not name the “Tennessee-based online content creation company” that received the Russian funding, but the description matches Tenet Media, which describes itself as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.”
Tenet’s website lists six prominent right-wing social media personalities—Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, Lauren Southern, Taylor Hansen and Matt Christiansen—as part of its talent roster.
The DOJ’s indictment alleges two Russian state media employees covertly poured $10 million into the company to publish English-language videos on various social media platforms spouting views that are “often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions.”
Tenet’s YouTube channel, which has more than 315,000 subscribers, features segments from Pool, Johnson and Christiansen’s online shows mostly focussing on conservative political and culture war issues.
The DOJ’s indictment doesn’t accuse the right-wing influencers—which it identifies only as Commentator-1 and Commentator-2—of any wrongdoing and instead suggests they were deceived by the company’s two founders and the Russian state media operatives.
When the influencers asked about the company’s funding source, the founders allegedly lied and told them they were sponsored by a private investor named “Eduard Grigoriann”—a fictional persona, according to the indictment.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
How Have The Influencers Reacted?
Many of the influencers listed in Tenet’s roster have millions of followers on social media and video-sharing platforms like X and YouTube. While the DOJ’s indictment doesn’t name any of them, it notes that Commentator-1 and Commentators had over 2.4 million and 1.3 million YouTube subscribers, respectively. Rubin’s channel has 2.45 million subscribers on YouTube, while Pool’s channel has 1.37 million. In a post on X, Pool said his podcast “The Culture War” was only “licensed by Tenet Media” for broadcast on its YouTube channel and he “never produced any content” for Tenet. “Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims…Putin is a scumbag,” Pool added. Johnson—who has 2.39 million subscribers on YouTube—also commented on the indictment on X, saying his lawyers had “negotiated a standard, arms length deal” with a media startup last year “which was later terminated.” He then added: “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.”
Key Background
Investigations by U.S. intelligence agencies, lawmakers and special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia conducted an expansive campaign—including online disinformation and hacking—to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. In 2018, a grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers for hacking into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The indictment was part of Mueller’s investigation, which also found that Russia-linked actors had carried out an extensive social media campaign using fake accounts to help former President Donald Trump win in 2016. A Senate Intelligence Committee investigation on the matter also came to a similar conclusion in 2020.
Big Number
7.16 million. That’s the cumulative YouTube subscriber count of all six influencers listed on Tenet’s talent roster.
Crucial Quote
While announcing the indictment, Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.”
Tangent
In a separate announcement on Wednesday, the DOJ said it seized 32 internet domains that were being used to carry out “Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as ‘Doppelganger’.” The websites “covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine” and influence voters in U.S. and foreign elections “including the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election.” The Treasury Department sanctioned Russian non-profit Autonomous Non-Profit Organization (ANO) Dialog and state media outlet RT (formerly known as Russia Today) for allegedly conducting a disinformation campaign.
Further Reading
U.S. Sanctions Russia For 2024 Election Meddling (Forbes)