A few Canadians were identified in a US Department of Justice indictment naming two Russia Today employees who allegedly used a US media company to amplify Russian government propaganda.
It is alleged by the indictment that RT, a state-run Russian broadcaster that was banned in Canada and the US following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was involved in the plot to fund and covertly influence public opinion on behalf of the Russian government.
The two Russian RT employees face two conspiracy charges. They are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which states that “agents of foreign principals” must publicly disclose their relationship with and funding from the foreign principal. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Canadian influencer Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donavan, founded Tenet Media, a year-old company that hosted prominent conservative influencers from Canada and the US. The company was left unnamed in the indictment, but facts referenced in the indictment have led media outlets to identify Tenet Media as the company in question.
The indictment alleges that using alternate identities and shell companies, the Russia Today employees and the founders of Tenet Media “worked together to deceive two US online commentators” to produce content. Chen and her husband, who were only identified as “Founder 1” and “Founder 2” are being accused of involvement, although neither Chen nor Donavan are facing criminal charges.
None of the charges or allegations have yet been proven in a court of law.
Chen has since had her contract terminated with The Blaze, a US platform founded by conservative pundit Glenn Beck, which hosted Chen’s commentary. Chen was an independent contractor with the company.
Both Chen and Tenet Media’s YouTube channels have been removed from the video hosting platform, with the company citing community policy violations.
Neither Chen nor Tenet Media responded to True North’s requests to comment.
The company that is being accused of being directed and funded by Russian agents is called “U.S. Company 1” in the report.
“U.S. Company-I describes itself as a ‘network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.’,” the indictment reads.
The sentence was sourced from Tenet Media’s website. The media group fielded popular US conservative commentators such as Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and Canadian commentator Lauren Southern. Several of those involved have denied knowledge of the influence scheme or the source of the funds and have maintained that their content was in no way under the editorial direction of those accused.
The indictment claims that “Founder 1” and “Founder 2” allegedly billed RT during their involvement.
According to the indictment, a false persona portraying a wealthy English financier named “Eduard Grigoriann” and his team was allegedly used by the RT employees during the scheme. The indictment alleges “nearly $10 million” worth of funds were laundered via foreign shell companies. Shell entities named in the indictment were listed in Dubai, Turkey, Mauritius, Czechia and Hungary.
“These allegations clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme,” Rubin said in a statement shared on X. “I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity. Period.”
Pool said on X that he was contacted by the FBI and agreed to assist the FBI in its investigation.
“The DOJ indictment literally says that commentators were deceived, that there was a rather sophisticated plan to manipulate the commentators of the platform, so they wouldn’t know what’s going on,” he said in an interview with US commentator Ben Shapiro.
Southern, a Canadian commentator who produced videos for Tenet Media, did not comment on the indictment and did not respond to True North’s request for comment before the deadline provided. Neither Southern nor the other commentators were named in the indictment or face criminal charges.
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs minister, warned Canadians in a statement on Thursday that any Canadian working with the Russian State would be held accountable.
“Any Canadians who illegally assist in Russia’s persistent attempts to use disinformation, criminal and covert activities, and corruption to undermine our sovereignty and democratic processes will face the full force of Canadian law,” he said. “The Government of Canada takes the issue of foreign interference seriously.”
Notably, the Liberal government has not established a foreign influence registry akin to the one existing in the US despite facing calls to do so since 2021. The registry would require anyone linked to a foreign power involved in government or election influence to register their activities.
In June of this year, the government also announced that it would shield the names of MPs the national security committee accused of wittingly assisting foreign state actors on behalf of China and India.
