A company co-founded by right-wing influencer Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan, has been accused by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of participating in a Russian propaganda campaign aimed at influencing the 2024 presidential election.
In an indictment released by the DOJ on Sep. 4, the DOJ accused two Russians of diverting $10 million in payments to “Company 1” to spread pro-Kremlin talking points. CNN independently confirmed that “Company 1” was Tenet Media. Chen and Donovan were also unnamed in the indictment, but CNN reported that business records filed in Tennessee revealed their identities.
The pair co-founded Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based social media outlet that was established in 2022. Tenet described itself as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.” There, prominent conservative social media stars, such as Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Lauren Southern, would post content that would be promoted across YouTube, TikTok, X, Facebook, Rumble, and Instagram.
The two Russians identified by the DOJ, are Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva. They worked for RT, a Russian state-funded news network, according to the prosecutors.
The indictment said influencers involved in the project were told it was funded by a private investigator Eduard Grigoriann, CNN reports. It also alleges that the Tenet founders knew that Grigoriann was not a real person.
According to Mother Jones, Discord messages between Chen and Donovan suggest they knew about the Russian funding. In a May 2021 message, Chen appears to reference the op-eds she wrote for RT she posted.
“Also, the Russians paid. So we’re good to bill them for the next month I guess,” she said.
One message sent in June 2021, said, “Also I say we bill the Russians for the last month once we’re done the extra op-eds.”
The prosecutors reported that the goal of the operation was to push pro-Russian talking points, more specifically, promoting content and news articles that praised Donald Trump and others the Kremlin saw as potential allies. During this time, most of Tenet Media’s viewers were unaware of what was happening behind-the-scenes.
“Influencers already have a level of trust with their audience”, explained Jo Lukito, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s journalism school, in an interview with the New York Times. “So, if a piece of information can come through the mouth of an existing influencer, it comes across as more authentic.”
In the aftermath of this revelation, Chen’s contract with Blaze Media, another conservative media platform, was terminated on Sep. 5, as confirmed by Semafor. In addition, her profile on Turning Point USA disappeared that week, and webpages featuring Chen have been deleted. Tenet Media’s YouTube channel was also taken down, as well as accounts owned by Chen. Both Chen and Donovan have not been charged by prosecutors.
Chen has previously quoted RT in a YouTube video she uploaded in 2016. According to CNN, she had written articles for RT in 2021 and 2022. She has also lambasted other conservatives that have supported U.S. funding for Ukraine, such as telling former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley to “move to Ukraine and run for its presidency” on X.
Other commentators who have posted on Tenet Media have stated that they were the victims of an alleged Russian scheme and they had editorial control over the content they produced.
“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,” said Rubin in a statement posted on X.
Pool also took to X to say “Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims,” in a now-deleted post. “The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company.”
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