DOJ alleges Russian nationals, US media company deceived right wing commentators about Russian funded influence operation

The commentators cited in the indictment were allegedly deceived as to the source of the funding, and in the case of Tim Pool, he maintains he has retained full editorial control of TCW content

Sep 05, 2024

UPDATE: Tim Pool tweeted he was contacted by the FBI:

I have been contacted by the FBI as a potential victim of a crime. The FBI believes I have information relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation and have requested a voluntary interview. I will be offering my assistance in this matter.

Also, TENET Media’s YouTube account, as well as four other YouTube accounts owned by Lauren Chen, the founder of TENET Media, have been taken down following the indictment.

EDIT: Added clarification that defendants are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering

The DOJ has published a press release and held a press briefing where they announced an indictment against two RT affiliated Russian nationals who paid nearly $10 million to a US media company, presumably TENET Media, to pay various prominent commentators, such as Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, to license their content on TENET’s platform.

The indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering. It also alleges that all the commentators who were contracted by TENET Media were deceived and subsequently unaware of the source of TENET Media’s funding.

It lays out how the two RT employees used multiple fabricated personas, provided a profile for a nonexistent investor who’s made-up name was “Eduard Grigoriann” to the commentators when they inquired further about the company and its affiliations, and worked directly with Founders 1 and 2, presumably Lauren Chen and her Husband, to hide the origin of the funding used to pay said commentators.

The indictment goes on to admit the licensed material varied in its perspectives, but generally favors Russian interests, and was selected by the Russian nationals to “sow division” and interfere in the free and fair elections here in the US.

Both Benny Johnson and Tim Pool made official statements on their X accounts, addressing the indictment, seeking to clarify their role in TENET Media.

Benny Johnson said, “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.”

Tim Pool released a statement saying he maintains full editorial control over all of The Culture War Podcast’s (TCW) content, and that all content is produced in house by their Timcast Media team, which seems consistent with the indictment.

The indictment alleging that TENET Media knowingly received millions of Russian State funds does not allege that Tim Pool’s Culture War Podcast (TCW) was in anyway influenced by the founders of TENET Media, or the two RT employees that worked directly with the Founders to deceive the contracted talent.

The indictment explicitly states that the contract between TENET Media and TCW was a $100k per-episode licensing agreement for "a non-exclusive, non-transferable... license, during the applicable License Term, to display, transmit, and distribute the Licensed Content."

The contract was for TENET Media to broadcast the TCW podcast, which was already in production well before any contracts were signed. The TCW Podcast was migrated from the Timcast YouTube channel to TENET Media’s YouTube channel, and is published every Friday morning on TENET Media’s channel.

It does not allege that TENET had any editorial influence or control over the production of TCW Podcast.

It does not allege any affiliation with any other Tim Pool owned companies.

The Founders of TENET Media are not currently facing indictment.

In Tim Pool’s daily live stream published this morning, he claims more information may be released later this evening regarding the indictment. He is also currently in the process of suing the Kamala Harris Campaign for defamation, where they posted a tweet claiming he was a, “Trump Operative,” and that they say, “their Project 2025 plan is to give Trump total, unchecked legal power so they can jail and execute those who don’t support Trump if he wins.”