CNN
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The unnamed Tennessee-based company that the Justice Department says was funded by Russian agents acting as part of a Kremlin-orchestrated influence operation against the 2024 U.S. election is Tenet Media, which is linked to right-wing commentators and has millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter.
The indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accuses two employees of RT, the Kremlin’s media arm, of funneling nearly $10 million to an unidentified company referred to in court documents only as “Company 1.”
CNN has independently confirmed that “Company 1” is Tenet Media, a platform for independent content creators. The company’s website says it describes itself as a “network of heterodox commentators focused on Western political and cultural issues,” which is consistent with the language in the recently released indictment.
The aim of the operation, prosecutors said, was to fuel pro-Russian narratives, including by distributing content and news articles that favored Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others less sympathetic to the Kremlin’s interests.
The indictment also states that six commentators are named on Company 1’s website.
Commentators listed on Tenet Media’s website include far-right figures Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, both of whom have millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms. Pool interviewed Trump on his podcast in May.
In separate statements Wednesday, Johnson and Pool said they had fallen victim to the alleged plot and said they continued to have editorial control over the content they created.
“We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that I and other influencers were victims of this alleged plot,” Johnson wrote in a post on X.
“If these allegations prove to be true, I, as well as the other personalities and commentators, have been deceived and are victims,” Pool said on X. “The show is produced entirely by our local team, with no input from anyone outside the company,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced a comprehensive package of measures to counter a Russian government-backed attempt to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election. These include sanctions against ten individuals and companies and the seizure of 32 internet domains.
At the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, three Russian companies used fake profiles to spread false narratives on social media, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. Internal documents created by one of those Russian companies show that one of the goals of the propaganda campaign was to promote the candidacy of Trump or another Republican presidential candidate, an FBI affidavit said.
Together with the charges against the RT employees, these actions represent the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the U.S. accused Iran of hacking both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, Wednesday’s actions are a reminder that U.S. authorities continue to view Russia as a significant foreign influence threat to the November election, sources familiar with the matter told CNN ahead of the announcements.
This story has been updated with additional details.
