Right Wing Influencers Secretly Paid By Russia

Summary

The US Justice Department has indicted two Russia Today TV network employees for allegedly funneling $10 million to right-wing YouTubers to promote Kremlin narratives. The indictment names Tenant Media and influencers like Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, who claim ignorance of the funds' origin. The video explores the scheme, the influencers' potential culpability, and the legal implications, including possible FARA violations and the role of social media in spreading disinformation.

Takeaways

• 😲 The U.S. Justice Department indicted two individuals from Russia Today (RT) for allegedly funneling $10 million to right-wing YouTubers to promote pro-Russia narratives.
• 📰 Tenant Media and its influencers, including Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, are implicated in the indictment for potentially unknowingly participating in a scheme to push Kremlin-friendly content.
• 💸 Some influencers received substantial payments, with one individual allegedly getting $100,000 per episode, raising questions about their awareness and ethical considerations.
• 🤔 The influencers claim they were unaware of the Russian funding and were deceived, a narrative that is being scrutinized given the large sums involved and the content's alignment with Russian interests.
• 📜 The indictment specifically names Constantine Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva for their roles in operating covert distribution channels for RT in the U.S.
• 🏛️ Russia Today, as a state-controlled broadcaster, is accused of using shell corporations to fund and direct media operations without disclosing its involvement, in violation of FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act).
• 🔍 The U.S. government seized over 24 internet domains allegedly directed by the Russian government, indicating a broader scope of influence operations.
• 📊 The financial model of Tenant Media was primarily reliant on funds from RT, with foreign wire transfers constituting nearly 90% of all deposits into the company's bank account.
• 🚫 YouTube has taken action against Tenant Media by removing its channel post-indictment, citing violations of community guidelines.
• 📘 The script also discusses the potential legal repercussions under FARA and money laundering charges, as well as the broader context of Russian influence campaigns, including 'Operation Doppelganger'.

Q & A

What was the main allegation against the right-wing media personalities mentioned in the script?

The main allegation was that they were spreading pro-Russia misinformation and were paid by Russia through illegal means, specifically by two individuals working for Russia Today (RT) who funneled $10 million to these influencers.

Which two individuals from Russia Today were indicted by the Justice Department?

The two individuals indicted were Constantine Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, who allegedly worked for Russia Today and were involved in funneling money to right-wing YouTubers.

What was the role of Tenant Media in the indictment?

Tenant Media was the Tennessee-based company that received funds from Russia Today through shell corporations and produced videos for social media platforms without disclosing RT's involvement. It was founded by Liam Donovan and Lauren Chen.

What were the claims made by Tim Pool and Benny Johnson regarding their involvement?

Tim Pool and Benny Johnson claimed they were unwitting victims and had no knowledge of the fraudulent activity or the true source of the money they received. They suggested they were deceived and that no one had editorial control over their content.

How did the government's investigation lead to actions against the influencers' online presence?

As a result of the investigation, YouTube removed Tenant Media's channel, stating it violated community guidelines. Additionally, the influencers may have faced repercussions for not disclosing material connections or sponsors.

What was the 'Good Old U.S.A' plan mentioned in the script?

The 'Good Old U.S.A' plan, also known as Operation Doppelganger, was a Russian influence campaign aimed at exploiting societal divisions in the U.S. to secure a Trump victory by leveraging far-right conspiracies and racist stereotypes.

What was the significance of the seized internet domains in the investigation?

The seized internet domains were allegedly directed by the Russian government and were part of a covert campaign to interfere with and influence the outcome of U.S. elections.

Why might the influencers not be charged with a crime despite the allegations?

The influencers might not be charged with a crime because the indictment suggests they were deceived by Tenant Media founders and Russia Today about the source of the funding, and the Department of Justice did not charge them with any crime.

What is the legal requirement under FARA that the indictment suggests was violated?

FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) requires individuals and entities engaging in certain activities on behalf of foreign governments to register with the Department of Justice and disclose their relationship and activities. The indictment suggests that the defendants conspired to violate FARA by acting as agents of Russia Today without registering.

What potential repercussions could the influencers face beyond legal charges?

Beyond legal charges, the influencers could face reputational damage, loss of credibility, and potential penalties from platforms like YouTube for violating community guidelines or terms of service related to transparency and disclosure of sponsorships.

Outlines

00:00

📰 Right-Wing Influencers and Russian Disinformation

The paragraph discusses the indictment by the Justice Department of two individuals from Russia Today for funneling $10 million to right-wing YouTubers to promote pro-Kremlin narratives. The focus is on Tenant Media and its influencers, including Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, who are accused of unknowingly or knowingly pushing Russian propaganda. The narrative also touches on the influencers' claims of victimhood and their attempts to explain their involvement, highlighting the complexity of foreign influence operations in media.

05:01

💸 Financial Ties and Influencer Contracts

This section delves into the financial arrangements between the Russian state-controlled broadcaster, Russia Today (RT), and the influencers through Tenant Media. It discusses the contracts signed by Tim Pool and others, which allegedly paid them substantial amounts for content that aligned with Russian interests. The paragraph also mentions the government's seizure of internet domains and the influencers' claims of being unwitting participants in a criminal scheme.

10:02

🎭 The Use of Fictional Personas in Disinformation Campaigns

The paragraph exposes the creation of fictional personas by the defendants to conceal their identities and the true source of funds used to pay the influencers. It details the roles of these personas in directing content and the strategies used to manipulate the influencers to promote specific narratives, such as anti-Ukraine sentiments and pro-Russian views, without disclosing RT's involvement.

15:03

🏦 Money Laundering and FARA Violations

This part of the script outlines the financial mechanisms used by the defendants to funnel money from RT through shell corporations to Tenant Media, which then paid the influencers. It discusses the failure to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), leading to charges of conspiracy to violate FARA and money laundering. The paragraph also highlights the significant financial dependence of Tenant Media on RT's funds.

20:04

🤝 The Influencers' Awareness and Potential FTC Violations

The paragraph questions the influencers' awareness of the origins of the funds they received and their potential violations of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines requiring disclosure of material connections. It discusses the possibility of the influencers being forced to forfeit their earnings and the broader implications of promoting foreign talking points without proper disclosure.

25:04

📺 The Impact on Influencers and the Wider Disinformation Network

The final paragraph discusses the repercussions faced by the influencers, including the removal of Tenant Media's YouTube channel, and the potential for further investigations into other influencers' connections to Russian disinformation campaigns. It also touches on the DOJ's seizure of internet domains and the broader 'Operation Doppelganger' aimed at influencing U.S. elections, hinting at the extensive nature of such operations.

🌟 Nebula Platform and Creator Support

In this section, the speaker transitions to promoting the Nebula platform, positioning it as an alternative to YouTube that is free from foreign interference. The speaker encourages viewers to subscribe to Nebula for early access to content and to support creators directly. The paragraph also mentions exclusive content and the benefits of a lifetime subscription, emphasizing the platform's commitment to high-quality, creator-owned media.

Keywords

💡Indictment

An indictment is a formal accusation charging a person with a crime, usually issued by a grand jury. In the context of the video, the term is central as it refers to the legal action taken against individuals working for Russia Today, accusing them of illegally funneling money to influence certain media narratives. The script mentions, 'The Justice Department indicted, two people working for the TV network Russia Today,' highlighting the severity of the allegations and the legal framework within which the case is being pursued.

💡Propaganda

Propaganda refers to information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. The video discusses how certain media personalities were allegedly paid to push narratives favorable to the Kremlin, which is a form of propaganda. The script states, 'The indictment goes after Tenant Media, and his roster of influencers, including Dave Rubin, Tim Pool and Benny Johnson,' suggesting that their content may have been used to spread pro-Russian propaganda.

💡Kremlin

The Kremlin is the official residence of the President of Russia and often used metaphorically to refer to the Russian government. In the video, the Kremlin is mentioned in relation to the narratives that were allegedly being pushed by the indicted individuals and media personalities. The script includes phrases like 'narratives favorable to the Kremlin,' indicating the video's focus on the influence of the Russian government on global media and political discourse.

💡FARA

FARA stands for the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a United States law that requires individuals or entities acting on behalf of foreign interests to disclose their relationship to the foreign government or entities. The video explains that the individuals involved in the case are accused of violating FARA by not registering as foreign agents while they were allegedly working to influence public opinion on behalf of Russia. The script mentions, 'The defendants allegedly secretly funneled, nearly $10 million from RT, through foreign shell companies to finance Tenant Media,' which is a direct reference to the FARA violation.

💡Money Laundering

Money laundering is the process of making illegally-gained proceeds (i.e., 'dirty money') appear legal (i.e., 'clean'). In the video, it is suggested that the funds used to pay certain media personalities were laundered through shell corporations to conceal their origin. The script states, 'The indictment connects, the FARA violations to money laundering,' indicating that the funds were not only used for illicit political influence but also involved in financial crimes.

💡Influencer

An influencer is an individual who has the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience. In the video, the term is used to describe media personalities who were allegedly paid to promote certain narratives. The script refers to 'right wing YouTubers' and names 'Dave Rubin, Tim Pool and Benny Johnson' as examples of influencers who were allegedly part of the scheme.

💡Shell Corporations

A shell corporation is a company which has no significant assets or business activity, and may be set up for various purposes such as tax evasion or to hide the identity of the real owner of an asset. The video discusses how shell corporations were allegedly used to funnel money from Russia Today to the influencers without disclosing the origin of the funds. The script includes, 'The defendants funded by RT laundered almost $10 million, through shell corporations to covertly support, a Tennessee-based company,' illustrating the use of such entities in the alleged scheme.

💡Tenant Media

Tenant Media is mentioned in the video as the company that was allegedly funded by Russia Today to produce content for social media platforms. The company is central to the narrative of the video as it is accused of being part of a scheme to influence public opinion. The script states, 'This company then produced videos, for social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok, without disclosing RT's involvement,' highlighting the secretive nature of the operations and the company's role.

💡Discord

Discord is a communication platform popular among gamers but also used by various communities for text, voice, and video communication. In the video, Discord is mentioned as the platform through which the defendants allegedly communicated with Tenant Media and influencers. The script includes, 'The defendants demanded, and got access to the Discord servers,' suggesting that Discord was a key tool in the alleged coordination and control of the influence operation.

💡Operation Doppelganger

Operation Doppelganger, as mentioned in the video, refers to a covert campaign by Russia to interfere and influence the outcome of elections in the United States. The video discusses how this operation sought to exploit societal divisions and promote far-right conspiracies. The script describes it as, 'Russia has been engaged, in an influence campaign called Operation Doppelganger,' indicating a broader context of foreign interference beyond the specific case of Tenant Media and the indicted individuals.

Highlights

Right-wing media personalities were allegedly paid by Russia to spread misinformation.

The Justice Department indicted two Russia Today workers for funneling $10 million to influencers.

Tenant Media and its influencers, including Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, are under scrutiny.

Influencers may have been unaware of the source of funding or chose to ignore it.

The government seized over 24 internet domains allegedly directed by the Russian government.

Russia Today, a state-controlled broadcaster, is accused of funding the operation.

Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are accused of secretly working for Russia Today and laundering funds.

Tenant Media, founded by Liam Donovan and Lauren Chen, is implicated in the indictment.

Influencers claimed to be unaware of the connection to Russia Today and editorial control.

Tim Pool and Benny Johnson confirmed their involvement and claimed victimhood.

The indictment alleges that the defendants created fictional personas to disguise their identities.

The scheme involved funneling money through shell corporations to influence public opinion.

The influencers may have been deceived about the source of funding, according to the DOJ.

The Department of Justice has not charged the influencers with any crime.

The Federal Trade Commission may investigate the influencers for undisclosed material connections.

The DOJ seized internet domains as part of Operation Doppelganger, a Russian influence campaign.

The operation aimed to exploit divisions in the U.S. and influence public opinion through social media.

Transcripts

- So it turns out those right wing media personalities

who were spewing insane

pro-Russia misinformation were paid by Russia.

The Justice Department indicted

two people working for the TV network Russia Today

for illegally funneling $10 million

to right wing YouTubers to push narratives

favorable to the Kremlin.

The indictment goes after Tenant Media

and his roster of influencers, including Dave Rubin,

Tim Pool and Benny Johnson.

Now, I know it would be easy to drag Dave Rubin, Tim Pool,

and Benny Johnson for at best being useful idiots,

Kremlin puppets, people with zero ethics,

whose ethical compass is either broken or non-existent,

shills willing to shill for Russian interests,

sellouts for a few rubles,

gormless morons who saw conspiracies everywhere

but in the mirror,

complete imbeciles who either didn't check

where their money was coming from or didn't care.

The dumbest Russian assets

in a race to the bottom of the butch camp.

- Ukraine is the enemy of this country.

Ukraine is our enemy.

- Where was I?

Oh, right, but let's not do that because, you see,

they are the real victims according to them.

They were paid millions of dollars,

several received $100,000 per episode,

so please shed a tear for them.

Now these guys have a history of spouting

basically pro-Russian propaganda

though they claim that no one ever had editorial control

over their content,

but hopefully, these guys are just gonna tweet

their way through this.

Tim Pool went on the Ben Shapiro show

to explain how the whole criminal enterprise worked.

- Lauren contacted us and was saying, you know,

we'd love to license something from you, or,

we agreed to a non-exclusive broadcast license,

which meant that we own the show,

the show is owned by the Culture War company,

which is its own company.

It, we own distribution rights,

we own audio distribution rights, everything about it.

They just effectively paid for a license,

which would have it appear on their YouTube channel

Friday mornings at 10:00 AM,

and with that, they got to use my likeness

and things like that.

- But as part of this investigation,

the government also seized over 24 internet domains

allegedly directed by the Russian government.

These influencers collectively made at least $10 million

from Russians who directed them

to follow pro-Russia talking points.

As Molly Knight points out, Tim Pool and Benny Johnson

have gotten more and money from Russia

than Hunter Biden allegedly got from Burisma.

Tim Pool is allegedly now cooperating with the Feds

while Johnson posts Bible verses on Twitter.

So let's talk about

why these guys are going through some things.

This indictment and I remind you

these allegations have not yet been proven in court,

accuses Constantine Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva

of secretly working for Russia Today,

which is known as RT.

Russia Today is a state-controlled broadcaster.

That means it is funded and directed

by the Russian government through its state budget.

RT operates as an international news and media organization

and although RT presents itself

as an independent media outlet,

its editorial policies and operations are widely understood

to be aligned with the interests and objectives

of the Russian state.

Kalashnikov quote, "manages multiple RT

covert distribution channels in the United States."

According to investigative journalist Christo Grozev,

who worked for Spiegel and Bellingcat,

Kalashnikov is the son of Donetsk deputy mayor

who sided with the Russian invaders in 2014.

That's him on the right.

Grozev reported that Kalashnikov managed to get visas

for four trips to the U.S. West Coast between 2016 and 2021,

during the Trump administration.

Elena Afanasyeva, who goes by Lena,

described herself as quote, "a producer at RT,

dealing with overseas affairs and news."

Here she is on Telegram.

Now, according to the indictment,

the defendants funded by RT laundered almost $10 million

through shell corporations to covertly support

a Tennessee-based company,

which the indictment refers to as U.S. Company-1.

This company then produced videos

for social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok

without disclosing RT's involvement.

Company-1 is not identified by name in the indictment,

but Company one is Tenant Media.

How do we know?

Well, the indictment says,

"On its website, U.S. Company-1 described itself

as a 'network of heterodox commentators

that focus on Western political and cultural issues'

and identifies six commentators, including Commentator-1

and Commentator-2, as its talent."

And people quickly found that Tenant Media uses the phrase

"a network of heterodox commentators"

in the description on its website.

And Tenant Media was incorporated in Tennessee

on January 19th, which is the same dated

from the corporation mentioned in the indictment.

Now, Tenant Media was apparently founded

by Liam Donovan and Lauren Chen,

who are referred to

as Founder-1 and Founder-2 respectively.

Chen's YouTube channel has over half a million subscribers

but her involvement in Tenant Media was not publicly known

prior to the indictment.

Chen used to host two shows for Glenn Beck's Blaze TV.

She's a contributor to Turning Point U.S.A

and, in a statement, Glenn Beck's company said it fired her.

Helpfully, Tim Pool and Benny Johnson both confirmed

that they were named in the indictment.

In a now deleted and revised tweet,

Pool explained that he was an unwitting victim,

quote, "Should these allegations prove true,

I as well as the other personalities

and commentators were deceived and are victims.

I cannot speak for anyone else at the company

as to what they do or to what they are instructed."

He mistakenly called the DOJ indictment leaked,

missing the fact that it was actually part

of a DOJ press release.

He added, quote, "That being said, we still do not know

what is true as these are only allegations.

Putin is a scumbag, Russia sucks donkey balls."

And recently, he's done a complete 180

and started posting pro-Ukraine tweets.

Though it would not surprise me if this is just a troll

and he thinks he's playing 4D chess.

But for future reference, Pool appears to be Commentator-2

in the indictment.

The Russians paid Pool $100,000 per video

to post podcasts and make videos.

And over the last couple of years,

Pool just happened to become very preoccupied

with the idea that the U.S. is on the brink of civil war.

And that was one of the core messages

that the Russians apparently wanted to promote.

And we'll have more on how the talking points tie in

with a Russian op called Good Old U.S.A in a few minutes.

And now that the indictment is public,

Pool has apparently changed his mind about the deep state.

He said he is been contacted by the FBI

because he is a victim of a crime and intends to cooperate.

Benny Johnson is also tweeting through it.

He said quote,

"A statement on the leaked DOJ indictment today:

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."

So there's a lot to unpack here.

First of all, the indictment was not leaked,

it was unsealed.

Johnson is not a victim of the deep state

and it's hard to just claim that you're a victim

when you accepted a whole bunch of money

to be a useful idiot for Russia.

And as for the bit about his lawyers handling anyone

who suggests he wasn't a victim,

(bell dings) well, you know,

bring it on, I guess.

Dave Rubin also confirmed he was one of the influencers,

quote, "These allegations clearly show that I

and other commentators were the victims in this scheme.

I knew absolutely nothing about

any of the fraudulent activity, period.

'People of the Internet' was a silly show

covering viral videos which ended four months ago.

The DOJ never contacted me regarding this matter

and I have no intention to comment further.

This screenshot directly

from the indictment speaks for itself."

Rubin is referring to paragraph four of the indictment,

quote, "Kalashnikov, Afanasyeva, Founder-1 and Founder-2

also worked together to deceive

two U.S. online commentators."

Now the key word here is deceive

because the government says that the Russians

and Tenant Media founders kept its talent in the dark

about Russia's involvement.

And it's important to note that the DOJ did not charge

the influencers with any crime,

though we'll discuss their level of culpability in a minute.

But here's a sample of the kind of videos

that Tim Pool was making under this contract.

- Ukraine is the greatest threat to this nation

and to the world.

We should rescind all funding and financing,

pull out all military support

and we should apologize to Russia.

- Now, part of the story I completely believe

and part of it I think is an outright lie.

It's entirely possible that the influencers had no idea

where this money was coming from.

The indictment says that the money was funneled

from Russia Today through foreign shell corporations

to Tenant Media and then dispersed

to the various influencers.

And the indictment says that Donovan and Chen

actively tried to deceive the right wing influencers.

So it's possible they had no idea

where the money was coming from,

though what they had to do

for this huge amount of money is so suspect that

they should have been asking more questions,

which is the part of this clip

that I believe is an outright lie.

Tim Pool says that $100,000 per episode is basically

the going rate for his podcast.

That's not true.

The podcast that he's referring to got between

100 and 200,000 views per episode.

And the nature of the deal was a non-exclusive license,

meaning that he could host it on his channel

and also, on the Tenant Media channel.

So in other words, it was basically a huge amount of money

for basically zero work.

And that's sort of the whole point.

Even if they never received explicit talking points,

they were given this money, which is fungible by the way,

to amplify their message.

And if they weren't given talking points,

it's because the Kremlin liked their message so much

that they had no notes and just wanted

to amplify the message as is.

Now, does this content reflect Tim Pool's real opinions?

That's for viewers to decide.

Forbes is reporting that Rubin is apparently referred to

as Commentator-1 in the indictment.

Rubin signed a contract that paid him $400,000 a month

plus $100,000 signing bonus and performance incentives.

Lauren Southern and Benny Johnson

and Matt Christiansen are the other influencers

who work with Tenant Media.

Christiansen is allegedly commentator number six.

See paragraph 34, which says,

"One of the influencers announced the company's formation

in a video," that was Christiansen.

And after news of the indictment broke

Christiansen told his viewers on a YouTube stream that

- I guess if you think that pro-America is pro Putin,

and when I say that, I mean like core constitutional

foundational declaration of independence type stuff,

so yeah, I guess

if that aligns with Putin, - Hey, can you-

- Then I've been had.

- Now pro tip, if you think

that America's founding values are best exemplified

by Vladimir Putin,

then, yes, you've been had.

Now I don't know what's worse,

being paid to shill for Russia

or being willing to shill for Russia

regardless of whether you were paid.

Now it's important to state,

it's not illegal to run a Russian-backed TV channel.

In fact, it would be illegal under U.S. law to shut it down.

It's also not illegal to state Russian talking points

nor is it illegal to be paid to speak them.

The First Amendment is the First Amendment.

But it's also not illegal for platforms like YouTube

to not allow those state-backed media platforms

on their own platform, which obviously would make it hard

for those state-backed media organizations to get the reach

that they want,

leading them to covert operations.

And it is illegal for foreign influencers

to try to influence people

without registering as a foreign agent.

Now, obviously, if you're running a Russian

disinformation campaign, you'll want a good lawyer.

But if you want a great lawyer,

let my law firm the EagleTeam help.

If you've gotten in a car crash, suffered a data breach,

whether or not the Russians were responsible for the hack

or are dealing with a worker's comp

or social security issue,

we can represent you or help find you the right attorney.

It's so important to talk to a lawyer right away

so you can maximize your recovery

or just find out what your options are.

So click on the link in the description

or call the phone number on screen

for a free consultation with my team.

These usually need a legal team.

You need the EagleTeam.

So you can click below.

Now the indictment says that the defendants created

fictional personas to disguise their identities

and the true source of the money

that they were paying these influencers.

For example, the defendants created Eduard Grigoriann,

a fictional private investor

who was presented at the sponsor behind the company.

Grigoriann was supposed to be a wealthy businessman

from Belgium with ties to finance.

In reality, no such person existed as evidenced by the fact

that there is literally no information about him

on the internet.

The closest you'll find is this poor associate

at the law firm of Latham and Watkins.

Kalashnikov pretended to be Grigoriann,

creating a fake accent during phone calls with influencers.

And then there's Helena Shudra and Victoria Pesti.

Afanasyeva used these two fake identities

to direct the editing and publishing of content

for Tenant Media.

These names allowed her to act covertly

without revealing her connection to Russia Today.

Afanasyeva, through these personas,

monitor the content released by Tenant Media influencers.

For example, on February 16th, 2024,

Afanasyeva was posing as Shudra, said, quote,

"I do worry that neither Commentator-3

nor Commentator-1 share any raw videos posted on X.

Commentator-2 shared only one video this week.

Commentator-4 didn't share any raw videos.

She only shared her mini doc and its promo.

Commentator-5 is good at sharing our content so far."

Since only one of the six influencers is a woman,

we know that Commentator-4 is probably Lauren Southern.

Afanasyeva also identified the messages

that she wanted the influencers to share.

During the first six months of 2024,

she posted links to approximately 841 video clips,

which were routinely posted by U.S. Company-1 staff

onto U.S. Company-1 social media channels.

And the best example of all,

which involved a very high profile American conservative,

quote, "On February 15th, 2024,

Afanasyeva, while posing as Shudra, shared a video

of a well-known U.S. political commentator,

visiting a grocery store in Russia.

Afanasyeva posted the video in the Producer Discord Channel.

Later that day, Producer-1 privately messaged

Founder-2 on Discord, quote,

'They want me to post this,' referencing the video

that Afanasyeva had posted,

but 'it just feels like overt shilling.'

Founder-2 replied that Founder-1

'thinks we should put it out there.'

Producer-1 acquiesced responding,

'All right, I'll put it out tomorrow.'"

The clip that the Russians

desperately wanted to share was Tucker Carlson's

Grocery Shopping in Moscow.

Here it is.

- At that point, maybe it matters less what you say

or whether you're a good person or a bad person.

You're wrecking people's lives in their country

and that's what our leaders have done to us.

And coming to a Russian grocery store, the heart of evil,

and seeing what things cost and how people live,

it will radicalize you against our leaders.

That's how I feel, anyway.

Radicalized.

We're not making any of this up by the way at all.

- A producer thought this came too close

to overt shilling for the Russians.

Senator Thom Tillis agreed.

He shared this clip and called Tucker a useful idiot.

But Chen and Donovan told the producer that they had

to comply with the request

so the influencers featured the clip.

- And so Tucker Carlson, the great liberator,

is there in Moscow, ironically, to free people.

- Pretty incredible that Tucker Carlson is so shameless

that even the Russians are like it's a bit much.

The defendants also sought

to manipulate the ISIS terror attack

on a music venue in Moscow, which killed about 145 people.

The defendant saw the attack as an opportunity

to turn Americans against Ukraine, quote,

"Despite public reporting

that the foreign terrorist organization ISIS had claimed

responsibility for the attack,

Afanasyeva requested that U.S. Company-1 blame Ukraine

and the United States, writing, quote,

'I think we can focus on the Ukraine, U.S. angle.

The mainstream media spread fake news

that ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack

yet ISIS itself never made such statements.'"

Commentator-3 who has not yet been identified was eager

to help, quote, "Founder-1 responded

that Founder-1 would ask Commentator-3

and the next day confirmed that Commentator-3 said

'he's happy to cover it.'"

And by the summer of 2024,

the defendants were given the authority

to post content straight to Tenant Media's platforms.

Liam Donovan informed a producer

that going forward the defendants, quote,

"Would be posting their own vids directly

to the influencer's social media accounts."

The defendants then got, quote, "Unfettered access

to serve RT messaging to the creator's audiences."

The indictment alleges that the efforts

to reach us viewers were successful.

Quote, "Since publicly launching in or about November, 2023,

U.S. Company-1 has posted nearly 2000 videos

that have garnered more than 16 million views

on YouTube alone.

U.S. Company-1 never disclosed to its viewers

that it was funded and directed by RT."

So basically, the scheme looked like this.

Russia paid money to Russia Today,

AKA Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva.

They would then take that money

and funnel it through international shell corporations,

which then paid wire transfers to Tenant Media,

AKA Donovan and Chen, who then dispersed that money

to the influencers themselves.

And as Pool and Rubin explained,

this was basically free money.

Now, they got the funds to do things

that they were already gonna do anyway

and for which they didn't have to give up

any of their rights or revenue.

They just gave away these basically meaningless

non-exclusive licenses to Tenant Media.

Now, FARA requires individuals and entities

that engage in certain activities on behalf

of foreign governments, organizations,

or individuals to register with the Department of Justice

and disclose their relationship with their foreign principal

as well as their activities, finances,

and the nature of the work that they're doing.

And the indictment accuses Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva

of conspiring to violate FARA

by acting as agents of Russia Today without registering.

The defendants allegedly secretly funneled

nearly $10 million from RT

through foreign shell companies to finance Tenant Media.

The foreign shell companies were located

in the Czech Republic, Hungary, The UAE, Dubai, Turkey,

and the United Kingdom.

The money was used to produce and distribute

social media content that aligned

with Russian government interests,

especially on politically sensitive topics like immigration,

inflation and Ukraine.

However, the defendants failed to register

as foreign agents as required by FARA,

thus concealing RT's role.

The Tenant Media producer submitted invoices

through Discord to the defendants who then wired the money

through dozens of foreign entities.

Commentators one, two and three collectively made

$8.7 million from RT.

But the influencers weren't really generating

very much revenue for Tenant Media.

Quote, "Commentator-1, Commentator-2

and Commentator-3 alone.

Consistent with Founder-1's February 8th, 2023 warning

to Persona-1 that 'it would be very hard

to recoup the cost for the likes of Commentator-1

and Commentator-2 based on ad revenue

from web traffic or sponsors alone.'

The foreign wire transfers far exceeded the receipts

of the advertising revenue.

Indeed, the approximately $9.7 million the Tenant received

from foreign wire transfers represented nearly 90%

of all the deposits into Tenant's bank account

from in or about October, 2023 to in or about August, 2024."

That means the Tenant Media wasn't making much money

from viewers or sponsors.

It was almost fully funded by RT.

Count one of the indictment charges

Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva of conspiracy to violate FARA,

overt acts in further into the conspiracy

included recruiting Tenant Media, posting video clips

to the Discord server for dissemination

on the social media accounts

and facilitating approximately 30 international

wire transfers from foreign shell entities.

And further into the conspiracy, each of which was processed

by a correspondent bank

in the Southern District of New York.

A willful violation of FARA, including false statements

or omission of material facts carries a penalty or fine

or imprisonment of up to five years or both.

Count two is for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Since the funds used to support Tenant Media were routed

through foreign shells, the indictment connects

the FARA violations to money laundering.

These laundered funds were intended

to finance operations that violated FARA,

including influencing public opinion

on behalf of the Russian government.

The indictment also made forfeiture allegations,

which are necessary in order for the government

to seize property or assets derived from involved in

or traceable to the criminal activity committed

by the defendants.

The indictment alleges that as a result

of committing the offenses, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva

must forfeit to the United States

all property derived from the proceeds traceable

to the commission of the FARA violation

and the money laundering.

But what about the profits distributed

to these six influencers?

Well, it's possible that those influencers could be forced

to forfeit those funds, but it's unlikely.

So Tim Pool will probably be able to keep his skate park.

Now, there is another angle to this situation.

The Federal Trade Commission regulates influencers

on platforms like YouTube.

The FTC requires influencers

to disclose any material connections such as payments,

free products, trips, or other forms of compensation

when they promote or endorse something.

And under the FTC guidelines, influencers must clearly

and conspicuously disclose their relationship with brands,

advertisers, and entities who sponsor videos.

These disclosures should be easy to notice and understand,

preferably in the video or in the description.

So what would the FTC make of this situation?

It's not entirely clear.

The influencers said they were shocked to discover

that the money was coming from Russia.

But of course, how credible is that claim?

If someone you've never met before turns up

with millions of dollars and offers it to you

with certain strings attached that happen to be

extremely pro-Russia, would you be suspicious?

And in this case, the strings were immediately apparent.

The indictment explains that the defendants demanded

and got access to the Discord servers.

Once they had direct access to the producers and talent,

they were given the ability to post pro-Russia,

anti-Ukraine and anti-American content directly

to the influencers' social media channels.

The influencers say that

they were already talking about those topics,

so they weren't paid to emphasize specific talking points,

but it's hard to read the indictment any other way,

especially given that in a sister investigation

that we'll talk about in a second,

people were given explicitly pro-Russia talking points.

Pool says he's a victim who had no idea

the money was coming from foreign sources.

However, a few years ago, Pool surmised

that foreign agents could buy YouTubers.

- So what happens with social media, particularly YouTube,

where it's really easy, you can have a foreign agent

or even the government or some corporation

or whatever, say, "This guy talks about things

that we really like.

Dump ad money into his channel through Google AdSense

and they'll never know we were the ones funding them."

And you can't prove it.

- The FTC might take a close look at the founders,

Donovan and Chen, who knew that they were working

with people affiliated with RT

and they were both paid contributors to RT.

Founder-1 wrote 25 articles for RT's website,

but did not disclose that they were paid to write them

and they knew that doing business

with RT would be problematic in the U.S.

The indictment says that Chen and Donovan, quote,

"Recognized that truthfully disclosing

their affiliation with RT made it more difficult for them

to do business in the United States."

For example, in February of 2022, quote,

"Producer-1 told Founder-2 that, quote,

'when I was asking people if they wanted to interview,

many said yes until I said I was with RT

so I switched to saying I was just working for Founder-1.'

Founder-2 replied, 'ha not surprised.'"

It's possible that promoting talking points

from Russia Today without disclosure

would run afoul of FTC rules,

but that would probably require proving

that they knew the defendants were not

who they said they were, which is definitely possible.

Paragraph 22 of the indictment says that the defendants

through their fake personas, told them that, quote,

"Management and marketing

for the new platform social media accounts would be done

by the Russian firm we agreed to hire."

Donovan replied that he was, quote, "Happy to work

with the Russian firm."

The Russian firm consisted of defendants who later monitored

and directed Tenant's activities under the guise

of an outside editing firm.

Then there's paragraph 27, quote,

"Founder-1 and Founder-2 admitted to each other

in their private communications

that their investors were in truth and in fact

the Russians, the same term that Founder-1 and Founder-2

previously used to refer to RT

while working directly under contract with RT

as described above."

So we may learn that more than just the founders knew

it was the Russians.

Tim Pool at least asked.

He was reportedly happy with his contract,

but, quote, "Still would like to know more about the company

and who he will be working with."

The defendants put him on the phone with Eduard Grigoriann,

who was really Kalashnikov

and then he was eager to move forward.

Dave Rubin also apparently sought more information

on Grigoriann, which prompted the defendants

to make up a fake CV.

But Rubin was suspicious.

No, not of the Russians.

He thought the CV sounded a little too social justice-y

quote, "Founder-1 reported to Persona-1

that Commentator-1 had 'a problem with the profile

we sent over, specifically the reference to social justice.

I think it may be because that's usually

a term used by liberals,

but we're trying to create a conservative network.'"

Founder-1 suggested that Dave Rubin and, quote,

"Edward could simply speak together to clarify the profile."

So Rubin was willing to share the talking points

as long as he was satisfied that Grigoriann wasn't a secret

social justice warrior.

But what if Grigoriann was a secret Russian

with ties to the Russian government?

Well, he evidently wasn't so concerned about that.

But meanwhile, the creators are facing

repercussions on YouTube.

In Europe, Russia Today is banned.

The U.S. did not ban RT because it can't.

But after the invasion of Ukraine,

American distributors of RT America cut ties

with the network and it stopped operating.

Then YouTube blocked access to channels that are associated

with Russia state media, including RT.

And now YouTube has taken additional action.

It removed Tenant Media's channel

just days after the indictment saying it, quote,

"Violated our community guidelines."

But why weren't Chen and Donovan charged

with violating FARA?

Probably because of the willfulness standard under FARA,

which requires more than just knowledge

that you're in business with a foreign national.

A violation is willful only when the person acts

with knowledge that the conduct was unlawful.

They also might be cooperating

with the Department of Justice, we don't know.

And in a related proceeding,

the DOJ seized 32 internet domains

for allegedly engaging in a covert campaign to interfere

and influence the outcome of our country's elections.

According to the unsealed affidavit filed

in federal court in Pennsylvania,

Russia has been engaged

in an influence campaign called Operation Doppelganger.

They call this the Good Old U.S.A plan,

which I'm sure sounded like the Good Old U.S.A plan,

which sought to exploit existing societal divisions

in the U.S. in order to secure Trump victory

by leveraging far right conspiracies and racist stereotypes.

The Good Old U.S.A planning document says, quote,

"It makes sense for Russia to put maximum effort to ensure

that the Republican party's point of view,

first and foremost, the opinion of Trump supporters,

wins over the U.S. public opinion."

The plan involved creating fake social media accounts

and sleeper cells to influence public opinion using YouTube,

Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter for propaganda.

The plan particularly emphasizes X,

where Russia maintains a network of 200 accounts in Twitter,

four in each of the 50 states.

The affidavit also reveals that Russia had a database

of influencers from all over the world

with heavy emphasis on the United States.

Quote, "One document revealed a list

of more than 2,800 people on various social media platforms

like Twitter, Facebook and Telegram,

spanning 81 countries that SDA identified as influencers,

including television and radio hosts, politicians, bloggers,

journalists, businessmen, professors, think-tank analysts,

veterans, professors and comedians.

When referring to politicians, the list often mentions

which U.S. state and or political party they represent

and the position they hold in Congress.

The U.S. based influencers accounted for approximately 21%

of the accounts being monitored by SDA."

So it's certainly possible that we will soon learn

about more influencers being paid by Russian operatives.

Perhaps that's why Dan Bongino is warning other influencers

to be careful.

- But I'd be remiss as a former federal agent

to not warn people that given these accusations,

are other people,

I'm not accusing anyone specifically, I wanna be clear,

are people working with the Feds right now

to try to ensnare other conservative influencers

into this alleged, alleged operation?

I'm just gonna say this, be very careful who you're emailing

and be very careful who you're talking to

and be very careful that you're not talking

to someone working with the Feds

on the other end of the line.

- Now, there are several ways you could read this clip.

Perhaps he's telling them not to be gullible

or perhaps this is a warning to other influencers

not to cooperate with the investigation.

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