Right-wing influencers — including Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson — are asserting that they are “victims,” duped into an alleged Russian interference operation after the U.S. Department of Justice exposed the scheme in an indictment.
On Wednesday, the DOJ revealed an indictment alleging that Russian funding had been secretly behind an American right-wing media company, in an effort to advance content aligned with the Kremlin’s political motives in the U.S. While the company was not named directly in the indictment, it has become clear that the organization is Tenet Media, a conservative media company founded by Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan.
Three of the company’s conservative commentators, all seemingly referenced in the indictment without being named, posted statements on social media asserting that they had no prior knowledge of Tenet’s ties to Russian funding.
After the indictment was revealed, Dave Rubin, who boasts a whopping 2.4 million YouTube subscribers, posted on X that the “allegations clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme.”
“I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity,” he said.
Pool, who has a YouTube subscriber base of 1.37 million, also took to X, posting “Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims.”
“That being said, we still do not know what is true as these are only allegations,” Pool said, looking to cast some doubt on the indictment’s contents.
The conservative influencer said that his podcast was licensed by Tenet Media after it already existed, adding, “Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show.” However, in a recently resurfaced clip, Pool is seen saying, “Ukraine is the enemy of this country,” adding that the U.S. “should apologize to Russia.”
Wow suddenly Tim Pool having takes like this makes way more sense. pic.twitter.com/Q43eeV8XhT https://t.co/qIsCML9Wwl
— highprogressive🥂🇦🇶 (@highprogressive) September 4, 2024
In his statement on Wednesday, Pool expressed a wildly different opinion, writing “Putin is a scumbag, Russia sucks donkey balls.”
Johnson, whose YouTube channel boasts 2.39 million subscribers, also chimed in, writing that he is “disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment,” and similar to the other two, claimed victimhood in the situation.
“A year ago, a media startup pitched my company to provide content as an independent contractor,” Johnson continued. “Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated.”
Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro also backed up Rubin, Pool and Johnson, writing that they “aren’t the issue here — they were apparently deceived by the company founders, who were allegedly taking Russian cash.”
While the influencers involved and their conservative surrogates continue to assert their innocence, it is clear Chen and Donovan — referenced throughout the indictment as “Founder-1” and “Founder-2” — were actively aware of the source of the funding, even seeking it out themselves. Prosecutors allege that the pair recruited influencers by covering up the Russian source of money, using a fake investor named “Eduard Grigoriann.”
According to the indictment, this was a response to Rubin and Pool requesting more information about where the funding was coming from. However, Grigoriann’s background seemed suspicious with no online presence and his name was misspelled on some documents.
Some have raised eyebrows at the massive contracts agreed to between the influencers and Tenet, with one commentator providing “four weekly videos” for a monthly fee of $400,000, plus a $100,0000 signing bonus and additional performance bonus.
I mean the fact that they were producing content Russia thought was worth $400,000 a month is certainly *an* issue here even if you believe these nitwits didn’t have any inkling who was paying them. https://t.co/KZUMINPVaD
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) September 5, 2024
Is there any other media job that pays $400,000 per month for recording four videos a week, or is it just doing "anti-woke" conservative clickbait
— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) September 4, 2024
(From DOJ indictment involving Russian state media funneling millions to right-wing video mill Tenet Media)https://t.co/h2kDRL8Gaj pic.twitter.com/Qa4jFsNXom
Wait! You mean many of the most vocally anti-Ukraine voices on Twitter were knowingly or unknowingly on Russia’s payroll. Insert my shocked face. pic.twitter.com/rfNXUUWGNj
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) September 4, 2024
these guys see made-up “psyops” everywhere until a mysterious foreigner offers them fantastic amounts of money for practically nothing then they turn into Mr Magoo https://t.co/V96pvzLg7Y
— Christian Vanderbrouk 🇺🇸 (@UrbanAchievr) September 4, 2024
The good news is there's someone out there with deep pockets willing to put real money into alternative media and actually pay their talent well.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 4, 2024
The bad news is that it's the Kremlin. https://t.co/pQ2jIazAXO
I am perfectly willing to believe Benny Johnson knowingly took money from Russia to undermine America. I’m also willing to believe he had no idea he was taking money from Russia and was just undermining America for shits and giggles. I just don’t think he’s got the intellectual…
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) September 5, 2024
This week’s DOJ indictment lays bare the vulnerabilities of such a fractured media environment in the U.S., as partisan content creators and podcasters gain massive followings and influence while not being entirely transparent about their financial backing. This makes the increasingly influential group particularly susceptible to knowingly or unknowingly spewing misinformation.
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