US says right-wing influencers were tricked into working for Russian covert operation

NEW YORK — They have millions of online followers. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they unwittingly worked for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors allege.

An indictment filed Wednesday alleges that a media company linked to six conservative influencers, including well-known figures such as Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson, was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to produce English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying internal U.S. divisions to weaken American opposition” to Russian interests, such as its war in Ukraine.

In addition to marking the third consecutive presidential election in which U.S. officials have revealed politically charged details about Russia’s attempted interference in American politics, one indictment indicates how Moscow may be trying to capitalize on the rising popularity of podcasters, live streamers and other right-wing content creators who have found successful careers on social media in the years since Trump was in office.

The US Justice Department is not charging the influencers, some of whom it says were given false information about the company’s source of funding, with any wrongdoing. Instead, it is charging two employees of RT, a Russian state-run media company, with funneling nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based content creation company to publish pro-Russian content.

After the charges were announced, both Pool and Johnson issued statements on social media, which Rubin retweeted, saying they were victims of the alleged crimes and had done nothing wrong.

“We still don’t know what is true, because these are just accusations,” Pool said. “Putin is a scoundrel.”

In his message, Johnson wrote that a year ago he had been asked to provide content to a “media startup.” He said his lawyers negotiated a “standard, no-strings-attached agreement, which was later rescinded.”

Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They are at large and it was not immediately clear whether they had lawyers.

U.S. officials have previously warned of Russia’s use of unwitting American citizens to further influence operations ahead of the 2024 election, but Wednesday’s indictment is the most detailed description of those efforts to date. Intelligence officials have said Moscow has a preference for Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump in the 2020 election, while his 2016 campaign benefited from hacking by Russian intelligence agents and a covert social media effort, according to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials.

With the decline of traditional media such as newspapers and limitations on direct advertising on social media platforms, influencers are increasingly playing a key role in politics and shaping public opinion. Both the Republican and Democratic parties invited dozens of influencers to their respective national conventions this summer. But with no disclosure requirements on who is funding influencers’ work, the public is largely unaware of who is behind the online messages.

While the indictment does not name the Tennessee-based company, the details exactly match those of Tenet Media, an online media company that boasts of hosting “a network of heterodox commentators focusing on Western political and cultural issues.” Tenet’s website lists six influencers who provide content, including Pool, Johnson, Rubin, Lauren Southern, Tayler Hansen and Matt Christiansen.

Tenet Media’s top six influencers have over 7 million subscribers on YouTube and over 7 million followers on X.

Fueled by public outrage and online bigotry, the influencers who make up Tenet Media’s talent team have amassed millions of loyal followers who agree with their staunch conservatism and unabashed willingness to voice controversial opinions. Their channels have also created communities for conservative Americans who have lost trust in traditional media due to Trump’s 2020 loss and the COVID-19 pandemic. Several of them have faced criticism for spreading political misinformation.

The indictment shows that some of the influencers were paid generously for their work. One unnamed influencer’s contract included a monthly fee of $400,000, a signing bonus of $100,000 and an additional performance bonus.

In recent months, Tenet Media’s shows have featured high-profile conservative guests, including Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake. The nearly 2,000 videos posted by the company have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone, according to prosecutors.

Pool, a journalist-turned-YouTuber who gained public attention for livestreaming the Occupy Wall Street protests, hosted Trump on his podcast earlier this year.

Johnson is an outspoken Trump supporter and internet personality who was fired from BuzzFeed after the company found evidence he had plagiarized other people’s work.

Rubin was previously on the liberal news talk show “The Young Turks,” but has since identified as a libertarian. He has the largest YouTube following of any of Tenet’s influencers and hosts a show called “The Rubin Report.”

Tenet Media President Liam Donovan is the husband of Lauren Chen, a Canadian influencer who has appeared as a guest in several Tenet Media videos. Chen is affiliated with the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and has hosted shows for the right-wing network Blaze Media. RT’s website also lists her as a contributor to several op-eds from 2021 and 2022.

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