Two Russian nationals were charged Wednesday with what the US Justice Department says was a conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act and to launder money via a platform secretly funded by the Russian government. Multiple media reports say the publication in question was Tenet Media, which signed a number of conservative influencers to make videos and other content about hot-button topics on the right. (Ironically, its most recent post was about alleged Chinese influence in the US.)
Several of Tenet’s stars have issued statements about the indictment seemingly indicating those reports are correct. The Russians charged by the feds work for RT, the Russian state-funded media network. In a statement to the Washington Post, RT wrote, “Hahahaha!”
Here are a few of the people who the feds indirectly say took Russian money—and what, if anything, they’ve said about the alleged scheme:
Lauren Chen: Chen is a right-wing Canadian commentator who once posted as Roaming Millennial and who founded Tenet with her husband, Liam Donovan. Chen was a contributor to Blaze Media, which fired her following the indictment.
Matt Christiansen: A Montana-based influencer whose videos include “Migrant Gang Takeover” and “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month in Idaho,” Christiansen wrote on X that “At no point has anyone ever directed me what to say or not to say, and I would never agree to anything otherwise.”
Benny Johnson: Once DC-based and now apparently living in Florida, Johnson, who BuzzFeed fired for plagiarism ten years ago, has become a wildly popular conservative influencer. Curiously, he calls the indictment “leaked” (you can actually read the whole thing on DOJ’s website) and wrote on X that “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme. My lawyers will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise.”
Tim Pool: A right-wing YouTuber and West Virginia skate-park owner who typically wears a beanie, Pool says Tenet had no editorial input into his Culture War podcast and that “Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims.” He also wrote that “Putin is a scumbag, Russia sucks donkey balls.”
Dave Rubin: A former lefty who had an unusually strong reaction to Ben Affleck, Rubin, like Johnson, wrote that the indictment shows that “I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme.” Rubin appears to be the person the indictment calls “Commentator-1,” who it says negotiated a $400,000 per month contract with Tenet.
Lauren Southern: Another Canadian, Southern has promoted the “Great Replacement” theory and recently, on Tenet, portrayed the racist mobs who stunk up English towns after a horrific attack recently as people who’ve “had enough.” We’ll update this post when she comments on DOJ’s allegations.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
