A Tennessee-based media network that produces shows for high-profile right-wing groups influencer According to a report, the criminal case against journalists such as Benny Johnson and Tim Pool was primarily funded by the Russian government-backed news network RT. federal indictment Two RT employees are accused in the indictment, which the US Justice Department opened on Wednesday. The Justice Department claims that the US company – which Wired has identified as Tenet Media, along with other news outlets, but is not named in the indictment – posted hundreds of videos on social media that pushed Kremlin-approved talking points.
With the tagline “Fearless voices live here,” Tenet Media’s network includes online creators known for their right-wing politics, including Johnson, Poole, Dave Rubin and Lauren Southern. In addition to the network’s individual creators’ followers, which total in the millions, Tenet Media also has more than 315,000 followers on YouTube and thousands of followers on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok.
Johnson, Pool, Rubin and Southern did not immediately respond to requests for comment; none of them are accused of wrongdoing. “We are troubled by the allegations in today’s indictment,” Johnson said. wrote on X, referring to himself and his attorneys, “which makes it clear that I and other influential people were victims in this alleged scheme.” Poole also released another statement statement X commented that “If these allegations prove to be true, I, as well as other personalities and commentators, have been deceived and victimized.” Rubin retweeted Poole’s post.
Prosecutors say in the indictment that Tenet and its founders — who are not named in the indictment but who corporate records show are right-wing influencer Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan — actively concealed the company’s ties to Russia from individual creators.
Tenet reportedly received approximately $9.7 million from R.T. According to the DOJThe indictment claims that $8.7 million of that was paid to the production companies of three unnamed commentators. One, called “Commentator-1” — a description that appears to belong to either Johnson or Rubin — was allegedly contracted for $400,000 a month for four weekly videos. The DOJ claims that the roughly $10 million Tenet Media allegedly received from RT represents “approximately 90%” of the money deposited into the company’s accounts.
The Justice Department has identified Tenet Media only as “US Company-1,” but noted in the indictment that the company describes itself as “a network of heretical commentators who focus on Western political and cultural issues.” That language is similar to the description Tenet Media website,
Tenet and Chen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russian RT employees Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, charged by the US, allegedly produced hundreds of videos supporting Russia’s objectives in collaboration with Tenet Media. They are accused of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspiring to commit money laundering for their alleged work with Tenet Media and associated activities.
Posing as outside video editors, the pair were reportedly intimately involved in Tenet Media’s operations. For example, Kalashnikov “monitored” the [Tenet Media’s] The indictment claims that Afanasyeva “published internal communications and edited content” published by the company. Afanasyeva, who allegedly used the fake personas of “Helena Shudra” and “Victoria Pesti” while working with Tenet Media, is said to have “edited, posted and directed postings” by Tenet Media and “provided day-to-day instruction” to company employees. Afanasyeva’s work with Tenet Media allegedly included instructing the company to post pro-Russian viewpoints, such as pushing a conspiracy theory that Ukraine and the US were responsible for a March terrorist attack at a music venue in Moscow.
