Tenet Media: DOJ Alleges Russian-Funded US Company Has Ties to Tim Pool, Benny Johnson

CNN
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The unnamed Tennessee company that the Justice Department says was funded by Russian operatives participating in a Kremlin-orchestrated influence operation targeting the 2024 U.S. elections is Tenet Media. The company is linked to right-wing commentators with millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the matter.

The indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accused two employees of RT, the Kremlin’s media arm, of funneling nearly $10 million to an unnamed company, referred to in court documents only as “Company 1.”

CNN has independently confirmed that “Company 1” is Tenet Media, a platform for independent content creators. It describes itself as a “network of heterodox commentators focused on Western political and cultural issues,” according to its website, which matches language in the recently released indictment.

Prosecutors say the operation’s goal was to fuel pro-Russian narratives, including by promoting content and news articles that favored Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others the Kremlin believed were more favorable.

The lawsuit also states that Company 1’s website lists six commentators.

Among the commentators listed on Tenet Media’s website are right-wing personalities Benny Johnson and Tim Pool. Both have millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms. Pool interviewed Trump on his podcast in May.

In separate statements released Wednesday, Johnson and Pool said they were victims of the alleged fraud and that they retained editorial control over the content they created.

“We are troubled by the allegations in today’s complaint, which make it clear that I and other influencers were victims of this alleged scheme,” Johnson wrote in a post on X.

“Should these allegations prove true, I, along with the other personalities and commentators, have been misled and are victims,” Pool said on X. “The show is produced entirely by our local team, with no input from anyone outside the company,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a series of sweeping measures to address a massive Russian-backed effort to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election, including sanctions against 10 individuals and entities and the seizure of 32 internet domains.

At the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, three Russian companies used fake profiles to promote false stories on social media, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. Internal documents produced by one of the Russian companies show that one goal of the propaganda effort was to promote the candidacy of Trump or whoever the Republican presidential candidate was, according to an FBI affidavit.

Along with the indictment of the RT staffers, the actions mark the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the U.S. accused Iran of attempting to hack both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, Wednesday’s actions are a reminder that U.S. officials continue to view Russia as a prominent foreign influence threat ahead of the November election, sources familiar with the matter told CNN ahead of the announcements.

This story has been updated with additional details.