Russia's secret payments of millions to right-wing podcasters.

The Department of Justice alleges that Tenet was created as a front for Russian agents in 2022 in order to distribute state-directed material across various platforms by Russian state agents. “The Justice Department will not permit attempts by authoritarian regimes to exploit America’s freedom of speech for propaganda purposes,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in a statement. An FBI investigation discovered evidence that Russia Today (RT), previously called Russia Today and run by their government, “secretly planted and funded” Tennessee content creation firm Tenet (not by name in indictment). Allegedly, this company spread anti-democracy propaganda that supported Russia, primarily via YouTube and TikTok social networks and conservative podcaster Benny Johnson is among those affected. Adam J. Dewey/Anadolu via Getty ImagesCurrently unknown is the location of Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva RT employees implicated in this scheme, who remain outstanding persons of interest in regards to it. According to the indictment, two digital projects associates working for an outlet used shell companies from Middle Eastern and African nations to covertly provide almost $10 million worth of funds between October 2023 and August 2024 to Tenet LLC – then using it to spread anti-US and anti-Ukraine messaging campaigns through it. Per the indictment, two staffers of Russian television station RT “covertly funded and directed” Tenet and its content, including editing or posting articles themselves and instructing others how to post. Both staffers have been charged with conspiring against Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), which mandates foreign agents disclose publicly their state-related activities, as well as money laundering conspiracy. They could face up to 25 years of federal imprisonment each, though Tenet and associated influencers all maintain they had no knowledge of his Russian ties. After Russia invaded Ukraine and banned many RT media channels around the world (including those banned in the US and its allies), its name was altered a couple of times as a way of diffusing any Russian origins; more proactively concealing any origins was achieved when in 2009 it changed to Russia Today from Russia Today in response. Following Russia’s incursion of Ukraine it banned these channels; nonetheless its indictment alleges they still use these outlets “direct disinformation and propaganda at Western audiences. “RT rebuffed allegations by US government officials that it was behind an recently disclosed election-meddling scheme by telling Reuters, ‘Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT’s interference in U.S. elections!’ According to The Washington Post, Russia Today provided a response that included, “Hahaha!” (“I’m sure this must have been even funnier in its original Russian,” attorney General Merrick Garland commented at WaPo.) Nonetheless, their indictment remains serious. “Company 1,” which serves as RT’s front company and describes itself as a network of heterodox commentators focusing on Western political and cultural issues, precisely matches Tenet Media’s website description in many details. Tenet Media was launched by Chen, commonly referred to by her legal name of Lauren Yu Sum Tam and Liam Donovan of Quebec in January 2022. Chen previously hosted multiple shows for Glenn Beck’s far-right media network BlazeTV. According to the FBI investigation, Chen and Donovan referred to their Russian backers as “the Russians”, and granted them both access to Tenet Discord server as well as posting privileges directly onto social media accounts associated with Tenet. Furthermore, Chen and Donovan worked alongside Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva in deceiving conservative podcasters about Tenet. Russian agents used multiple fake user profiles to perpetuate the deception; to fool members of their network and at least one unnamed potential influencer, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva apparently created one fictional French financier named Edgar Grigoriann with which their other false personas would promote. Their promotion of Grigoriann involved repeatedly misspelling it while dodging basic questions podcasters asked them regarding its identity.

Unfortunately, too often those responsible are only interested in short term gains at any cost – leading to costly and time consuming litigations if their goals cannot be achieved in time. At one point, those posing as Eduard Grigoriann would arrange Zoom calls with commentators they wanted to woo, only for them not to show up citing time zone differences as an excuse for missing it. Even as seemingly transparent these attempts may have been, two pundits ultimately entered contracts worth between $400,000-500,000 per month to create video content for fake Grigoriann’s use. Tenet provided most of its $10 million funding to creator studios; according to the indictment, $8.7 million went directly towards Commentator-I, Commentator-2 and Commentator-3 production companies alone. Who were the Affected Conservative Influencers?RT’s target list consisted of several high-profile conservative YouTubers and/or right-leaning commentators; Dave Rubin was likely among them and is suspected to be one of those higher paid commentators discussed by prosecutors as being targeted.” According to his statement on Twitter on Wednesday, Tenet dropped him four months prior. According to that tweet from Wednesday afternoon, his show for Tenet had been considered “silly. Tim Pool, known for his Timcast IRL podcast; Lauren Southern (an alt-right influencer who quit to marry and become a tradewife before making public accusations that her husband mistreated her); serial plagiarist turned podcaster Benny Johnson; self-described independent journalist Tayler Hansen who worked mainly at Tenet Media as a “field reporter”, as well as podcaster Matt Christiansen known for broadcasting from remote areas had made Tenet his primary streaming platform prior to this. Christiansen reported on a Wednesday evening livestream that Lauren Southern, a right-leaning influencer. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty ImagesOn Tuesday afternoon he claimed the FBI contacted him earlier for an informal interview claiming they view him as victim in their investigation rather than knowledgeable participant of this scheme. Indictments have indicated as much, characterizing all Tenet network members as being taken advantage of by Russian operatives without knowing it. Pool publicly denied his knowledge of such activity: ‘I cannot speak on behalf of other employees as to their duties or instructions,” he declared. “Never at any point did anyone other than myself exercise full editorial control of the show; its content often remains nonpartisan; examples include discussing spirituality, dating and video [sic] games.” Johnson stated that the deal he struck with Tenet was nonbinding and had since ended; however, their names still feature prominently on Tenet’s promotional website. “We are shocked and appalled at today’s charges indicting me and other influential individuals as victims in an alleged scheme,” Tenet stated in response to questions regarding what type of information Tenet distributed at the behest of Moscow authorities. One look at their social platforms shows an array of far-right political talking points ranging from transphobic fearmongering and anti-immigrant ranting, demonization of protesters, criticism of abortion providers as well as constant anti-Ukrainian messaging. “While views expressed in these videos do not all conform with Russia’s agenda for creating domestic divisions to decrease opposition against its core interests such as its ongoing war in Ukraine,” according to the indictment, they often serve this objective. Russian agents hired high-profile influencers through an artificial financier to produce content, then edited some footage directly before sending back for review and editing. One Tenet staffer identified in the indictment as a producer objected when asked to post video promoting an influencer visit to a Russian grocery store by posting videos, saying this felt like “shilling”. They were, nonetheless, ordered to post this content anyway. Russian officials would frequently request content creators make specific videos, for instance those depicting terrorist attacks in Moscow. Unfortunately, such material has become such an everyday occurrence on conservative internet that it’s difficult to determine which sources originated directly with Moscow and which came through influencers hired by it. After all, while Tenet may have hired six figures who may or may not have known who paid them, no complaints were lodged with regard to content itself. As noted in the indictment, Grigoriann’s bio included references to social justice issues which raised concern among podcasters – perhaps an indicator of just how successful Russia’s disinformation campaign has been. Indictments revealed in 2024 alleged that between November 2023 and August 2024, Tenet Network members produced over 2,000 videos which generated 16 Million Views between them for Tenet Media’s Russian investors and themselves – reaching almost 300k Subscribers on YouTube at that point! That number may seem impressive, but its magnitude pales when considered against Rubin Report and Johnson’s YouTube channels which each boast over 2.4 million subscribers; Tim Pool’s Timcast IRL channel boasts close to 1.9 million. Many audience members participate actively in political dialogues online, spreading their beliefs to a broader audience. At times it remains unclear which views may have originated as propaganda and which were reached honestly; either way it appears their backers are willing to pay them to produce what their backers deem worth their while. Russian disinformation efforts in the US have long relied upon third-party actors such as bots, trolls, social media farms, journalists, and hackers as part of its disinformation campaign – from bots and trolls through to journalists and hackers – for its success. Ironically, Tenet’s last Instagram post attacked an employee from New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s staff who was arrested for taking bribes and forgery to further Chinese Communist Party interests in New York. As evidence of Russia’s tactics continue to emerge, finding an entire US content company dedicated solely to disinformation seems less surprising – though more disturbing. What else are they up to on that front? Will we ever understand how much damage they have done? You have read one article this month at Vox; here at Vox we believe in providing everyone with access to information to better comprehend our complex world so they may participate in shaping it themselves. 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