Right-Wing Influencers React to Being Tied to Russian Disinfo Campaign
By: Yahoo News
If you know who Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin et al, then uh-oh! It's greed:
All money ain't GOOD money!
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Koh Ewe
September 5, 2024
Benny Johnson appears as a guest during a taping of "Candace" in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 11, 2022. Credit - Brett Carlsen—Getty Images
After the Department of Justice issued an indictment Wednesday accusing Russia of using American right-wing commentators to peddle propaganda ahead of the November election, several public figures linked to the scandal have spoken out, claiming that they are "victims" of the alleged influence operation.
According to the indictment, two employees at Russian state media RT have been secretly funding a Tennessee-based media company with nearly $10 million, laundered through foreign shell entities. The company allegedly paid some commentators hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to make videos—mainly about political issues—for its platforms, and the two RT employees allegedly deceived the commentators about where the company's funding came from.
One of the company's co-founders was also allegedly paid by ANO TV-Novosti, the parent organization of RT, to write opinion articles published on the news site, according to the indictment.
While the indictment did not name the media company or any of the commentators, observers quickly noted that its descriptions matched that of Tenet Media, a right-wing content company founded in 2022, and its contributors. Tenet posts videos promoting conservative narratives on issues including immigration, inflation, and gender—many of which were "edited, posted, and directed" by one of the RT employees, according to the indictment.
"While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are 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 said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Wednesday that "the Justice Department will be aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by the Russian government, or any other malign actor, to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy."
In the wake of the bombshell indictment suggesting their unwitting involvement in spreading disinformation, some of the commentators associated with Tenet Media have posted responses on social media. They've emphasized that they maintained editorial control over their content but that, if the allegations are true, then they are "victims." Here's what they've said.
Benny Johnson
Adam J. Dewey—Anadolu/Getty Images
Benny Johnson, a 37-year-old former BuzzFeed plagiarist-turned-conservative commentator with nearly 2.4 million YouTube subscribers, wrote on X that a year ago his company negotiated a "standard, arms length deal" with a media startup that was later terminated. Johnson is a regular host on Tenet videos, with his latest video published on Wednesday.
"We are disturbed by the allegations in today's indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme," he said.
Dave Rubin
Candace Jason Kempin—Getty Images
"These allegations clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme," Dave Rubin, a regular host of Tenet's YouTube videos, wrote on X to his 1.5 million followers. "I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity. Period."
Rubin is also the creator and host of the YouTube political talk show The Rubin Report , which has 2.5 million subscribers, and has described himself as a former left-leaning progressive before becoming a conservative
Tim Pool
Ramin Talaie—Corbis/Getty Images
Tim Pool, the 38-year-old right-wing commentator and host of Tenet's podcast series "The Culture War with Tim Pool," wrote on X, where he has over 2 million followers, that the podcast "existed well before any license agreement with Tenet and it will continue to exist after any such agreement expires."
"Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show and the contents of the show are often apolitical," Pool said. "Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims."
Tayler Hansen
Tayler Hansen, another regular host on Tenet, wrote on X, where he has over 173,000 followers, that the allegations "come as a complete shock."
"I want to be as clear as possible, I was never directed to report on any topic and had complete freedom and control over my reporting at all times," he said, adding that with the election coming up this is "a big smear job against an uncensored, unapologetic, and America first media company."
He also appeared to mock the DOJ indictment in another post, with a screenshot of his video on Tenet, sarcastically describing his coverage of a protest as "Russian election disinformation effort."
Breaking News / Live Protest Coverage =
RUSSIAN ELECTION DISINFORMATION EFFORT!!! pic.twitter.com/98hGSPHiBC
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) September 5, 2024
Matt Christiansen
Matt Christiansen, a conservative YouTuber with over 235,000 subscribers, acknowledged in a live stream on Wednesday that he was referenced in the DOJ document as "Commentator-6."
"If this was some big propaganda op, phenomenally bad job," he said, adding that there was no evidence of Russian influence during the company's operation. "I was not duped, wittingly or unwittingly. Everyone's been honest with me, as far as I'm aware."
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It's greed. These men may have been sharing their individual conservative points of view, but let's not be naive, they must have sensed the 'grift' they were on-even a little bit in their ascensions. They accepted the limelight, the prosperity, and the instant fame. Now comes the 'crash.'
Disinformation Inc. - Russia Edition has been put on a watch list, and its Agent-idiots - American Edition'told that their checks will stop flowing. . . . There potentially may be a need for lawyering up anyway. See? All money ain't good money (especially when you have to pay it back or shell it out as recompense for bad deeds 'done.')
I doubt these people knew they were being paid by Russia. But should they have known? I don’t know enough about the industry to judge.
Either way, I would hope it bothers them that Russia supports their content. Maybe a little self reflection is in order.
Hi Tacos! That is my larger point. It's a situation where 'somebody' did not do enough research into the company and organization doing the hiring before contracting for services. I don't feel sorry for these guys. They used this 'outlet' and it used them.
I am totally glad the truth has been found out, while it can do some good in the coming election!
Maybe it will be a wake-up call to content providers - be it on radio or the internet or whatever - to a little “due diligence” when going into business with someone?
Meh, probably not.
YouTube Pulls Tenet Media Channel After US Claims It's a Russia-Funded Op
The right-wing political channel on YouTube is terminated after a US indictment uncovers evidence it's a Russian government project intended to influence the American public.
YouTube has shut down a right-wing political channel called Tenet Media after the US accused it of being a Russian government-funded operation intended to divide Americans.
YouTube terminated the channel, along with four others run by Lauren Chen, a former employee of the Russian state-controlled media outlet RT and co-owner of Tenet Media.
“Following an indictment from the US Department of Justice and after careful review, we are terminating the Tenet Media channel and four channels operated by its owner Lauren Chen as part of our ongoing efforts to combat coordinated influence operations,” a YouTube spokesperson tells PCMag.
A day earlier, the DOJ alleged that RT had covertly paid millions to US influencers and pundits to produce videos supporting Russian government causes. The money was funneled through Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based company founded by Chen that bankrolled right-wing commentators, including Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson.
On YouTube, the Tenet Media channel circulated nearly 2,000 videos, which attracted more than 16 million views. RT allegedly used two other employees, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, to edit content and push pro-Russian narratives through Tenet Media. However, the company never disclosed its Russian ties to viewers or the right-wing influencers on its payroll.
The incident raises concerns that Russia could funnel more money to social media stars to try and influence US politics. A separate court document from US investigators alleges that a Russian government-controlled company called Social Design Agency (SDA) monitors and collects information about many media organizations and more than 2,800 social media influencers. "The US-based influencers accounted for approximately 21% of the accounts being monitored by SDA," the document adds.