The Justice Department on Wednesday announced charges against two Russian state media employees for diverting $10 million to an unidentified media company in the United States.
The criminal case names two defendants, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Their scheme was reportedly valued at about $10 million. The defendants are at large.
While the case does not name the company to which Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva allegedly directed money, it is described as a “Tennessee-based online content creation company” that publishes English-language videos and information on TikTok, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and other social media sites that favor and promote Russian interests. The case notes that the company, called “Company 1,” was publicly launched in November 2023 and “has published nearly 2,000 videos that have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone.”
The description matches that of Tennessee-based Tenet Media, which funds videos by conservative influencers like Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson. In recent months, the company’s shows have featured RNC co-chair Lara Trump, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake.
Both Pool and Johnson responded to the Justice Department's allegations about X, calling themselves “victims.” Pool referring to Russian President Putin is an “asshole”.
Johnson wrote in his post that he was asked to provide content to a “media startup” about a year ago. “Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arm's length agreement, which was later terminated,” he wrote.
In another part of the DOJ announcement, the government seized 32 Internet domains used by the Kremlin to undermine global support for Ukraine. The websites were supposedly designed to look like legitimate news sites, but instead published only Russian propaganda.
“The covert attempts to sow division and deceive Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda are attacks on our democracy,” said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. “Today’s actions demonstrate that as long as foreign adversaries like Russia continue to engage in hostile influence campaigns, they will continue to run afoul of the FBI. We will continue to do everything we can to expose the hidden hand of foreign adversaries like Russia and thwart their efforts to intrude on our free and open society.”