Conservative influencers linked to company in Russian election influence case speak out, say they're victims

A group of conservative media personalities tied to a Tennessee-based media company say they’re victims after the Department of Justice accused Russia of secretly funding the company as a scheme to push divisive propaganda.

The DOJ on Wednesday issued a shocking indictment that alleged a pair of Russian state media staffers had been covertly funding a Tennessee-based, American content creation company identified in reports as Tenet Media. The indictment alleges that RT, the Russian state media outlet formerly known as Russia Today, had employees Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva shell out nearly $10 million, which was allegedly laundered through a series of shell companies. They remain at large.

The Russian-backed American company published nearly 2,000 videos to social media platforms such as X and YouTube, and failed to inform viewers it was financed by the Kremlin, according to the indictment. The videos were made by paid conservative influencers.

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"Many of the videos published by U.S. Company-1 contain commentary on events and issues in the United States, such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy. 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. 

Company-1 was later identified as Tenet Media , which describes itself as "a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues." It employs widely followed conservative commentators Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Lauren Southern, Taylor Hansen and Matt Christiansen. Supporters of former President Trump, they are not accused of any wrongdoing and several spoke out after the indictment was announced.

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"A year ago, a media startup pitched my company to provide content as an independent contractor. Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated. 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," Johnson responded on X. 

Rubin issued a statement denying any knowledge of the alleged fraud.

"These allegations clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme. I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity. Period. ‘People of the Internet’ was a silly show covering viral videos which ended four months ago. The DOJ has never contacted me regarding this matter and I have no intention to comment further," Rubin wrote. 

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Pool wrote that he and other personalities were "deceived and are victims" if the allegations are proven to be true. 

"I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed. The Culture War Podcast was licensed by Tenet Media, it existed well before any license agreement with Tenet and it will continue to exist after any such agreement expires. The only change with the agreement was that the location of the live broadcast moved to Tenet's Youtube Channel. I and TCW never produced any content for Tenet Media," Pool wrote. 

"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. Examples include discussing spirituality, dating, and videos games," he continued. "The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company. TCW is separate company not associated with Timcast.com or other properties. It exists solely for the production of the Culture War Podcast That being said, we still do not know what is true as these are only allegations. [Vladimir] Putin is a scumbag."

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Hansen, another Tenet content creator, wrote that the allegations were 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. I would never agree to any arrangement where I am not the sole person in charge of the stories I cover and content I create," Hansen wrote on X. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the DOJ 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."

When asked by Fox News Digital about its reaction to the allegations, RT said, "We certainly have a reaction. Actually, we had several, but we couldn't decide on one (we even thought of running an office poll), so here they are." 

"'2016 called and it wants its clichés back,' was among them, as were: 'Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT's interference in the U.S. elections,' ‘We gotta earn our Kremlin paycheck somehow,' and 'Somewhere Secretary Clinton is sad that it's not because of her.'"

The Justice Department made RT register as a foreign agent in 2017.

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Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall, Greg Norman and David Spunt contributed to this report.