Popular Conservatives Allegedly Tricked Into $10M Russian Influence Campaign: DOJ

A federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday alleges that a Tennessee-based media company, later identified as Tenet Media, received nearly $10 million from employees of Russian state-backed media company, Russia Today (RT), as part of "a scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging."

The DOJ claims that RT and two of its employees - Kostiantyn “Kostya” Kalashnikov and Elena “Lena” Afanasyeva - worked to funnel money to Tenet Media as part of a series of "covert projects" aimed at shaping narratives within Western audiences.

The indictment specifically notes that the influencers - including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin and Lauren Southern - had no idea they were taking Russian money, and were deceived. They were told by Tenet founder Lauren Chen - who allegedly knew the true source of the funds - that the money was from a wealthy private investor named "Eduard Grigoriann."

At least one of the influencers asked for a profile on Grigoriann before signing a contract - and was given a fabricated one-page profile.

This was apparently sufficient, as two of the commentators (believed to be Tim Pool and Benny Johnson) signed contracts which paid Pool $100,000 per podcast, while Johnson was paid $400,000 per month plus a $100,000 signing bonus for "four weekly videos."