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Benny Johnson seems as a visitor throughout a taping of “Candace” in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 11, 2022. Credit score – Brett Carlsen—Getty Photos
After the Division of Justice issued an indictment Wednesday accusing Russia of utilizing American right-wing commentators to hawk propaganda forward of the November election, a number of public figures linked to the scandal have spoken out, claiming that they’re “victims” of the alleged affect operation.
In accordance with the indictment, two staff at Russian state media RT have been secretly funding a Tennessee-based media firm with practically $10 million, laundered by way of overseas shell entities. The corporate allegedly paid some commentators tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} a month to make movies—primarily about political points—for its platforms, and the 2 RT staff allegedly deceived the commentators about the place the corporate’s funding got here from.
One of many firm’s co-founders was additionally allegedly paid by ANO TV-Novosti, the guardian group of RT, to put in writing opinion articles revealed on the information website, in response to the indictment.
Whereas the indictment didn’t identify the media firm or any of the commentators, observers shortly famous that its descriptions matched that of Tenet Media, a right-wing content material firm based in 2022, and its contributors. Tenet posts movies selling conservative narratives on points together with immigration, inflation, and gender—a lot of which have been “edited, posted, and directed” by one of many RT staff, in response to the indictment.
“Whereas the views expressed within the movies aren’t uniform, the subject material and content material of the movies are sometimes per the Authorities of Russia’s curiosity in amplifying U.S. home divisions with a view to weaken U.S. opposition to core Authorities of Russia pursuits, equivalent to its ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” the indictment mentioned.
Lawyer Basic Merrick Garland mentioned on Wednesday that “the Justice Division can be aggressive in countering and disrupting makes an attempt by the Russian authorities, or some other malign actor, to intrude in our elections and undermine our democracy.”
Within the wake of the bombshell indictment suggesting their unwitting involvement in spreading disinformation, a few of the commentators related to Tenet Media have posted responses on social media. They’ve emphasised that they maintained editorial management over their content material however that, if the allegations are true, then they’re “victims.” Right here’s what they’ve mentioned.
Benny Johnson
Benny Johnson, a 37-year-old former BuzzFeed plagiarist-turned-conservative commentator with practically 2.4 million YouTube subscribers, wrote on X {that a} yr in the past his firm negotiated a “commonplace, arms size deal” with a media startup that was later terminated. Johnson is a daily host on Tenet movies, along with his newest video revealed on Wednesday.
“We’re disturbed by the allegations in as we speak’s indictment, which clarify that myself and different influencers have been victims on this alleged scheme,” he mentioned.
Dave Rubin
“These allegations clearly present that I and different commentators have been the victims of this scheme,” Dave Rubin, a daily host of Tenet’s YouTube movies, wrote on X to his 1.5 million followers. “I knew completely nothing about any of this fraudulent exercise. Interval.”
Rubin can also be the creator and host of the YouTube political speak present The Rubin Report, which has 2.5 million subscribers, and has described himself as a former left-leaning progressive earlier than turning into a conservative
Tim Pool
Tim Pool, the 38-year-old right-wing commentator and host of Tenet’s podcast collection “The Tradition Struggle with Tim Pool,” wrote on X, the place he has over 2 million followers, that the podcast “existed nicely earlier than any license settlement with Tenet and it’ll live on after any such settlement expires.”
“By no means at any level did anybody apart from I’ve full editorial management of the present and the contents of the present are sometimes apolitical,” Pool mentioned. “Ought to these allegations show true, I in addition to the opposite personalities and commentators have been deceived and are victims.”
Tayler Hansen
Tayler Hansen, one other common host on Tenet, wrote on X, the place he has over 173,000 followers, that the allegations “come as an entire shock.”
“I need to be as clear as doable, I used to be by no means directed to report on any matter and had full freedom and management over my reporting always,” he mentioned, including that with the election developing that is “an enormous smear job towards an uncensored, unapologetic, and America first media firm.”
He additionally appeared to mock the DOJ indictment in one other post, with a screenshot of his video on Tenet, sarcastically describing his protection of a protest as “Russian election disinformation effort.”
Matt Christiansen
Matt Christiansen, a conservative YouTuber with over 235,000 subscribers, acknowledged in a live stream on Wednesday that he was referenced within the DOJ doc as “Commentator-6.”
“If this was some massive propaganda op, phenomenally dangerous job,” he mentioned, including that there was no proof of Russian affect through the firm’s operation. “I used to be not duped, wittingly or unwittingly. Everybody’s been sincere with me, so far as I’m conscious.”
Contact us at letters@time.com.
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