In a sweeping move to combat what it calls Russian disinformation ahead of November’s election, the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments and website seizures on Wednesday.
Despite an FBI investigation of Iran hacking presidential campaigns, the Biden administration is convinced Russia is behind an operation to influence the U.S. election, and a DOJ press conference on Wednesday revealed the latest efforts to address that including accusations against a media content company that includes conservatives Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, and others on its roster.
Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operation Targeting Audiences in the United States and Elsewhere
🔗: https://t.co/Zfm3qPImPa pic.twitter.com/3d98jA0UiM
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 4, 2024
“The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.”
Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Two RT Employees Indicted for Covertly Funding and Directing U.S. Company that Published Thousands of Videos in Furtherance of Russian Interests
🔗: https://t.co/UfRPQO9QEz pic.twitter.com/2OUJXwRqlH
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 4, 2024
“Over at least the past year, RT and its employees, including Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, deployed nearly $10 million to covertly finance and direct a Tennessee-based online content creation company (U.S. Company-1). In turn, U.S. Company-1 published English-language videos on multiple social media channels, including TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube,” a DOJ press release read.
“Though the indictment does not name the company, it describes it as a Tennessee-based content creation firm with six commentators and with a website identifying itself as ‘a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues,'” the Associated Press noted. “That description exactly matches Tenet Media, an online company that hosts videos made by well-known conservative influencers Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and others.”
Pool responded in a post on X, writing that “should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived.”
corrected because I didnt know this was an official DOJ release
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) September 4, 2024
Johnson was “disturbed” by the allegations and noted on X that he had been asked to provide content to a “media startup” a year ago. But after his lawyers negotiated a “standard, arms length deal,” it was later terminated.”
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…
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 4, 2024
“U.S. Company-1 never disclosed to its viewers that it was funded and directed by RT. Nor did U.S. Company-1 or its two founders register with the Attorney General as an agent of a foreign principal,” the DOJ noted in its press release.
The Justice Department also announced the seizure of dozens of internet domains.
“In the other action, officials announced the seizure of 32 internet domains that were used by the Kremlin to spread Russian propaganda and weaken international support for Ukraine. The websites were designed to look like authentic news sites but were actually fake, with bogus social media personas manufactured to appear as if they belonged to American users,” AP reported.
Today, the Justice Department announced the ongoing seizure of 32 internet domains used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as “Doppelganger,” in violation of U.S. money laundering & criminal trademark laws. pic.twitter.com/zSaxVqrLyS
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 4, 2024
“As alleged in an unsealed affidavit, the Russian companies Social Design Agency (SDA), Structura National Technology (Structura), and ANO Dialog, operating under the direction and control of the Russian Presidential Administration, and in particular First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Vladilenovich Kiriyenko, used these domains, among others, to covertly spread Russian government propaganda with the aim of reducing international support for Ukraine, bolstering pro-Russian policies and interests, and influencing voters in U.S. and foreign elections, including the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election,” the DOJ said in a press release.
In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department “announced the designation of 10 individuals and two entities as part of a coordinated response to Russia’s malign influence efforts targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election,” the release read.
