Cash from Russia with Love

The Spies Who Paid Me

A recent investigation revealed that Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based media company, was at the center of a Russian-backed influence campaign aimed at the 2024 U.S. election. The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted two employees of Russia’s state-funded media outlet RT (formerly Russia Today) for funding Tenet Media.

The indictment alleges that Tenet Media and its founders, Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan, knowingly accepted nearly $10 million from these Russian operatives. The funds were used to create and distribute content that favored pro-Russian narratives, primarily through right-wing social media influencers.

Several prominent conservative commentators, including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin, were associated with Tenet Media and unknowingly amplified content that was part of this covert propaganda scheme. Some influencers, such as Pool and Johnson, have since claimed they were unaware of the Russian connection and expressed concern over the revelations.

They’ve essentially pleaded innocence due to ignorance, as if they never, at least privately, asked questions about where the money was coming from. Assume they didn’t, though. Does this absolve them? Maybe it does in a strict legal sense, but as a social and moral matter, not so much. Anyone with an influencer business…