Feds say Russia laundered $10M through unwitting social media influencers, including a WV man

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

Federal law enforcement officials say right-wing social media influencers were unwittingly paid by a Russian front company to “sow domestic divisions” in the United States by “publishing disinformation and propaganda.” One of the influencers lives in West Virginia. 

The indictment

On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice issued a federal indictment which charges Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva with a scheme. The indictment says they created, in the words of their own editor, “an ‘entire empire of covert projects’ designed to shape public opinion in ‘Western audiences.’” 

Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva work for RT, the indictment says. “RT, formerly known as ‘Russia Today,’ is a state-controlled media outlet funded and directed by the Government of Russia.” 

They laundered nearly $10 million “through a network of foreign shell entities” to an unnamed company which appears to correspond to Tenet Media, based in Tennessee. Tenet Media then signed huge contracts with social media influencers who have large audiences. 

What issues did RT seek to amplify in US social media? “While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, the subject matter of the videos are often consistent with what Government of Russia’s interest in amplifying US domestic divisions in order to weaken US opposition to core Government of RUssia interests such as its ongoing war in Ukraine,” the indictment says. 

A former RT employee said in 2016, “anything that causes chaos” is what RT amplifies. Practically, this has led to social media content about censorship, transgender citizens, and migrant gangs, for example. 

The indictment goes further, saying that RT asked Tenet Media to amplify specific issues. One such issue named in the indictment was the Moscow concert hall terror attack earlier this year. RT told them to blame the attack on Ukraine, though ISIS took responsibility for the attack. 

Who were the influencers? Tenet Media began in late 2023 with influencers Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, David Rubin, and Lauren Southern. The indictment indicates at least one of them was being paid $400,000 per month plus a $100,000 signing bonus by Tenet Media (via funding from RT). Federal officials do not believe the right-wing American social media influencers knew they were being paid through a front company by Russian agents. 

“The company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government,” says Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

A connection to West Virginia

One of the figures, Tim Pool, currently lives in Harper’s Ferry, WV, according to Jefferson County public records. He is a social media influencer with more than 4 million followers across multiple platforms. He hosts “The Culture Wars” podcast for Tenet Media and operates a nightly show on YouTube that provides commentary on national news and includes other right-wing influencers such as Clay Travis, Nick Fuentes, and Milo Yiannopoulos. 

According to a story by Will Sommer in the Washington Post earlier this year, Pool has purchased several properties in the northeastern panhandle of West Virginia. “Pool has expressed a desire to build a sort of conglomeration of businesses downtown (Martinsburg) that he bills as the ‘anti-Times Square,’” the article says.

In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Pool called himself a victim of the Russian scheme in a lengthy statement, which reads: 

“Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims. I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed.   

“The Culture War Podcast was licensed by Tenet Media, it existed well before any license agreement with Tenet and it will continue to exist after any such agreement expires. The only change with the agreement was that the location of the live broadcast moved to Tenet’s Youtube Channel. I and TCW never produced any content for Tenet Media.

“Never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show and the contents of the show are often apolitical. Examples include discussing spirituality, dating, and videos games.  

“The show is produced in its entirety by our local team without input from anyone external to the company. TCW is separate company not associated with http://Timcast.com or other properties. It exists solely for the production of the Culture War Podcast.

“That being said, we still do not know what is true as these are only allegations.  Putin is a scumbag, Russia sucks….” 

Stay tuned to RealWV for updates on this developing story.