US government agencies accuse Russia of election interference
US government agencies took coordinated actions against people associated with the Russian government, accusing them election interference.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall last week appeared on a popular YouTube show with a pundit who was implicated in a Department of Justice indictment for unwittingly receiving funding from the Russian government for his work at Tenet Media.
Marshall appeared for a 20-minute guest segment on “The Benny Johnson Show,” a popular conservative YouTube program. Johnson amassed 2.4 million subscribers on the platform with live shows covering the news from a conservative viewpoint. The amount of money Johnson received isn’t shared in the indictment, but some of Tenet’s creators earned as much as $100,000 per episode.
A spokesperson for Marshall’s campaign said its office has never communicated with Tenet Media.
Accusations of Russian ties to Tenet
Johnson is one of several conservative commentators swept up in revelations from a Department of Justice indictment against Tenet Media, a YouTube platform that employed such pundits as Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Lauren Southern. The hosts employed by Tenet weren’t aware of the source of funding, according to the DOJ.
However, the founders of Tenet, Canadian political commentator Laura Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan, are implied to be aware. The indictment says they texted each other about financial transactions with “the Russians.”
The hosts were paid for their shows on Tenet Media but weren’t paid by the company for the more popular content uploaded to their respective YouTube channels. Tenet’s content has been wiped from YouTube since the indictment was unsealed.
Two Moscow-based Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, are accused of conspiracy to launder money to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Both defendants worked for RT, a state-run media outlet of the Russian government.
“While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos are often consistent with the Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Government of Russia interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine,” the indictment said.
Tenet-run shows have hosted scores of prominent figures on the right, such as Lara Trump, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Florida.
Marshall never appeared on Johnson’s allegedly Russian-funded show but marked his second appearance on “The Benny Johnson Show” after joining him once in April.
The allegations haven’t slowed booking on the show, and since the indictment was released, Johnson has booked Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas; Rep. Cory Mills, R-Florida; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama; and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump.
Roger Marshall discussed voter eligibility on ‘The Benny Johnson Show’
In Marshall’s most recent segment on “The Benny Johnson Show,” he detailed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in U.S. elections, and advocated for more information be shared about the Trump assassination attempt by federal law enforcement and the media.
When asked about another debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, Marshall jokingly suggested it be held on Johnson’s show.
Marshall only briefly mentioned Russia or Ukraine in either of his appearances, telling Johnson in April that, “I’m not a big supporter of more funding for Ukraine until we fund our own border.”
YouTube star Benny Johnson says he was duped
Tenet lured in talent by claiming they were funded by a fake private investor named Eduard Grigoriann, and several of the hosts believed that the persona was the founder of the media company. But Johnson, Pool, Rubin and Southern denied knowing anything about the shady aspects of the funding.
“A year ago, a media startup pitched my company to provide content as an independent contractor,” Johnson said on X, formerly Twitter. “Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated. We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.”
Russian documents show preference for Republicans
The DOJ also shared Russian documents on “propaganda proposals” that laid out priorities for messaging to an American population. The documents show a preference for what is assumed to be Republicans, though the documents redact the name of political parties.
The Russian documents referred to Party B as “left-wing and far-left globalists who advocate for perversion of traditional moral and religious values,” and Party A as “normal people whose priority is to protect the traditions of the American way of life.” Another document said, “The (U.S. Political Party A) is currently advancing a relatively pro-Russian agenda.”
Marshall has been vocally supportive of Ukraine and has advocated for banning Russian imports of oil, but he’s also been critical of sending aid. In April, Marshall was one of 18 senators who didn’t support a bill authorizing $60.7 billion of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“There’s going to be those who judge today and tomorrow and say that I’m in the wrong, but it’ll take decades,” Marshall said in February. “It’s going to take decades for history to figure out who was right here, and who was wrong here. And as I’ve said before, I may be wrong on Ukraine. But I’m darn confident that securing the border should be our top priority right now. It’s our No. 1 most immediate threat to our national security.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-12 22:17:00
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