Deep Dive into Russia's Influence with Conservative Commentators

In today's post, we will be walking through the recent Department of Justice indictment over Tenet Media. We will further discuss, briefly, the history of Russia Today's historical influence, and more. As always, don't forget to subscribe, share, and more! We have a lot planned throughout the remainder of the year!

The Russian Connection to a Conservative Tennessee Content Creation Company

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted two Russian nationals for money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in their efforts to promote disinformation and Russian propaganda to US audiences. The Tenet Media story serves as a reminder of the changing nature of media consumption and the vulnerability of political messaging. This post will share details of the indictment, the players (both real and imaginary) involved, and the implications for our approach to mass media.

Russia Today’s History of Influence

According to the recently unsealed indictment, the propaganda scheme was part of Russia Today (RT)’s longstanding efforts to promote pro-Russian messaging in the West. As stated in the documents, “For nearly two decades, RT has promoted the objective of the Government of Russia by publishing disinformation and propaganda.”

While RT has painted itself as a legitimate media outlet, broadcasting in the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU, many countries banned the company after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, the indictment shows that the organization is still active in carrying out its mission of disinformation.

The Players: Kostya, Lena, and Eduard Grigoriann

The indictment names two RT employees, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov (aka Kostya) and Elena Afanasyeva (aka Lena), as defendants responsible for making the financial connection between Tenet Media and RT.

Although not specifically named in the indictment, Tenet Media founders Lauren Chen and Liam Donovan also have previous connections to RT, creating videos for a Canadian media company on behalf of RT from 2021 to 2022. During this time, they recognized the challenge of doing business in the US when backed by RT. A 2021 email from one of the founders states, “I know being Russian some folks in the US aren’t too hot on them lol.” In private correspondence, they often referred to RT as simply “the Russians.” A 2021 Discord exchange between the two founders stated, “So we’re billing the Russians from the corporation, right?” In January 2022, Chen and Donovan incorporated Tenet Media as a content creation business in Tennessee with the tagline “Fearless Voices Live Here.”

Eduard Grigoriann is another name that pops up in the indictment. However, in good spy novel fashion, Grigoriann is a fictional character; a successful financier who had held banking positions in Brussels and France. His name and profile were used to persuade potential commentators of the legitimacy of Tenet Media, hiding the RT connection. In the fake profile, he is pictured sitting in jeans, a black t-shirt, and a sports coat, gazing out the window of his private jet.

“Anything that Causes Chaos Is RT’s Line”

The quote above is mentioned in the indictment and comes from a 2016 interview with an RT journalist. As a media outlet funded by the Russian government, RT promotes pro-Russian messaging and seeks to improve public opinion of the Russian government in Western countries. This has primarily been an online effort since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

At the same time, RT seeks to increase division around domestic issues so that audiences pay less attention to international news. If Americans are arguing about border crossings, immigration, and inflation, they won’t have the bandwidth to focus on the war in Ukraine.

According to the indictment, from 2022 to 2024, Kostya and Lena worked as content editors for Tenet Media, releasing hundreds of videos on social media channels like TikTok, YouTube, X, and Instagram. The indictment mentions almost 2,000 videos with “over 16 million views on YouTube alone.”

In February of 2023, Tenet Media began to look for new talent to act as the face of the business. Allegedly, Kostya and Lena used the Eduard Grigoriann character to persuade conservative commentators like Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, and Tim Pool to sign with the company. In reality, RT funneled almost $10 million through various shell companies to fund this effort. Although the commentators are not identified in the indictment, one contract involved a $400,000 monthly fee along with a $100,000 signing bonus. Another commentator signed on for $100,000 per video.

The Accusations: The Foreign Agents Registration Act

FARA (Title 22, United States Code, Sections 612 and 618) is a 1938 law that requires individuals to register with the DOJ if they are involved in political or advocacy work for foreign entities in the United States. According to the Congressional Research Service, it was enacted in response to a growing number of German propaganda agents operating in the US in the 1930s. The DOJ claims that by failing to declare their relationship with RT, Kostya and Lena, along with the Tenet founders, stand in violation of the law, creating content to influence US audiences without revealing their true agenda.

The Rise of Influencers and Opinion Makers

Although they are not named in the indictment, Tenet Media has six commentators listed on its website: Matt Christiansen, Tayler Hansen, Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Lauren Southern. Their responses to the indictment range from Johnson and Pool claiming that the commentators were victims in the scheme to Hansen and Christiansen who emphasized that they had editorial freedom when working for Tenet. “At no point has anyone ever directed me what to say or not to say,” Christiansen tweeted on X.

One could argue that the commentators were put in place with editorial freedom to add legitimacy to Tenet Media’s additional web content with more blatant propaganda. On the other hand, the underlying message of the indictment implies that the divisive style and commentary on domestic issues play into RT’s disruptive agenda. One can assume the Russian government wouldn’t fund a channel to the tune of $10 million that worked against its message.

The Tenet Media story is a cautionary tale about how we consume media messages. Since the 1940s, sociologists have suggested a two-step flow theory of mass media. Originally, it was the idea that while everyone could receive media, a certain group of opinion-makers paid more attention to the news and became local experts, holding court in coffee shops and other group gatherings.

Today, our opinion makers have gone pro, receiving thousands of dollars for their videos. Instead of promoting a back-and-forth dialogue, they create consumable content to interpret, support, or undermine the work of other media outlets. For many people across the political spectrum, these “experts” have become their de facto news source.

Whether your news is unbiased (if there can be such a thing) or highly opinionated, the DOJ indictment should remind us all of the role of money in the media. We know it costs money to make news, so who’s paying for yours?

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Citations

1. DOJ Indictment: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1366266/dl
2. Congressional Research Service Document; https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10499.
3. Commentators from Tenet Media; https://www.tenetmedia.com/
4. Quote from Matt Christiansen comes from his X account: https://x.com/MLChristiansen/status/1831443281672388637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1831443281672388637%7Ctwgr%5E3027a18ac0b611fba95e2bbc88fd6c5cd387a596%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpresto-suite.gannettdigital.com%2Fquick-view%2F75085727007%3Fauth%3Dfalse