An American media group employing top far-right political influencers accepted millions to spread Russian propaganda, a Department of Justice indictment alleged on Wednesday.
The indictment does not directly name the group, which received $10 million to “create and distribute
to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging” on social media, but listed several key details pointing to Tenet Media, a conservative media group.
Tenet, which works with far-right commentators including Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson, describes itself as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues” in its YouTube bio – the exact language that the Department of Justice used to describe the company they say took cash to serve Russian interests.
Tenet Media founders, Turning Point USA-affiliated Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan, were apparently aware of the connections to Russia when they accepted the payments from RT, the indictment alleged without naming the pair.
Per the DOJ, the nearly 2,000 videos produced by Tenet Media shared opinions “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.”
The indictment added that connections to RT or Russia were never disclosed to viewers, who logged more than 16 million views on the channel.
Commentators who appeared on the channel were potential victims as well, investigators noted, adding that some were told that a fictitious European benefactor financed the group upon asking.
“We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme,” right-wing influencer Benny Johnson wrote in a post to X.