Cash from Russia with Love
The Spies Who Paid Me
A recent investigation revealed that Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based media company, was at the center of a Russian-backed influence campaign aimed at the 2024 U.S. election. The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted two employees of Russia’s state-funded media outlet RT (formerly Russia Today) for funding Tenet Media.
The indictment alleges that Tenet Media and its founders, Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan, knowingly accepted nearly $10 million from these Russian operatives. The funds were used to create and distribute content that favored pro-Russian narratives, primarily through right-wing social media influencers.
Several prominent conservative commentators, including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin, were associated with Tenet Media and unknowingly amplified content that was part of this covert propaganda scheme. Some influencers, such as Pool and Johnson, have since claimed they were unaware of the Russian connection and expressed concern over the revelations.
They’ve essentially pleaded innocence due to ignorance, as if they never, at least privately, asked questions about where the money was coming from. Assume they didn’t, though. Does this absolve them? Maybe it does in a strict legal sense, but as a social and moral matter, not so much. Anyone with an influencer business does a bit of data analysis on their content. Certain content will make more money than others, and any competent businessperson would focus their efforts on their most profitable activities.
Tim Pool may not have been sitting in a room with Tenet Media representatives hashing out a payout structure, but he must have certainly known that the content featuring Russian talking points paid well. The economics of podcasting and social media would not have allowed $400,000 a month in payments to pass by without scrutiny. But, as long as the money flowed, he continued to push these talking points while looking away from the source.
The DOJ’s indictment also revealed that Russian operatives instructed Tenet Media to push certain narratives, such as blaming Ukraine for a Moscow terrorist attack in March 2024. These efforts were part of a broader Kremlin strategy to interfere in U.S. political discourse and the upcoming election.
The fallout from these revelations has been significant. YouTube removed several Tenet Media-related channels as part of its ongoing efforts to combat coordinated influence operations. Tenet Media has since folded, and Lauren Chen’s contract with Blaze TV was terminated following the indictment. Conservative figures, including Lara Trump and Kari Lake, who had appeared on Tenet’s podcasts, have been linked to the scandal, though no evidence suggests they were directly aware of the funding sources.
The exposed Russian scheme represents a continuation of Moscow’s attempts to manipulate U.S. politics through digital and social media platforms. By utilizing popular right-wing influencers, Russia sought to subtly integrate its messaging into American political discourse without these individuals being fully aware of the manipulation. This case underscores the growing concern about foreign interference in democratic processes, particularly through unregistered foreign agents operating within domestic media networks.
This influence was seen in both the 2016 and 2020 elections. Many individuals who had prominent roles in the 2016 campaign had significant ties to Russians, and Donald Trump himself relied on money from Russian citizens to keep his businesses and personal finances afloat. In the early 1990s, Trump faced a near financial collapse, with multiple bankruptcies and a loss of credibility among U.S. banks, which refused to lend to him. During this time, Trump turned to foreign money to finance his ventures, including major real estate projects like Trump World Tower.
A key player in Trump’s revival was the Bayrock Group, a real estate development company led by Tevfik Arif, a Kazakh-born businessman, and Felix Sater, a Russian-American with ties to organized crime. Bayrock helped Trump secure financial backing from sources linked to Russia for various ventures, including the Trump SoHo project. These partnerships marked a shift in Trump’s business model, where he began licensing his name rather than owning real estate directly, thus attracting foreign investors, many from Russia, who were drawn to his brand.
These Russian financial ties have drawn significant attention from investigators, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as they may have created conflicts of interest during Trump’s presidency. While there is no conclusive evidence that Trump’s policies were directly influenced by these financial relationships, the influx of Russian capital during his business struggles has raised questions about the extent of Russian influence on Trump both as a businessman and later as a political figure.
These tactics have long been a mainstay of Russian intelligence operations. Russia and the Soviet Union before it has used what is known as gray propaganda to push talking points through mouthpieces who are reputable to a target audience. In the 1930s, American journalists such as Walter Duranty of the New York Times made trips to the Soviet Union and wrote glowing profiles of the world’s first Communist state.
The rise of the social media influencer has allowed for more subtle tactics. Now, influencers with large audiences can receive a quid pro quo off the books without going to the trouble of visiting Russia. Tactics have been adjusted accordingly.
There is a tacit understanding that such efforts are part and parcel of influence and espionage operations that all nations, including the United States, engage in to some extent. In fact, one of the main purposes of diplomatic installations is to collect intelligence on the host country. This is different, however, than actively subverting institutions for geopolitical purposes.
The DOJ’s indictment and the collapse of Tenet Media mark a significant moment in efforts to counter foreign disinformation campaigns targeting U.S. elections. These developments highlight the vulnerabilities within social media ecosystems and the potential for covert foreign influence to permeate political conversations in the U.S.
For nearly a decade now, Russia has been allowed to run these influence operations largely unchecked. Investigations have targeted the mouthpieces and the dupes of their propaganda, rather than going straight to the source. That has now changed, and light is now being brought into the shadowy world of espionage that might help sanitize our politics.