Justice Dept. Indicts Russian Media Execs for Trying to Influence 2024 US Election
WASHINGTON — Russian diplomatic officials are calling a U.S. Justice Department indictment Wednesday a “witch hunt” for its accusations that President Vladimir Putin is trying to influence the 2024 presidential election.
The Justice Department indicted two Russian media executives who have worked in the United States.
Federal prosecutors also seized the internet domains of 32 websites they say the Russians used to sway U.S. public opinion, apparently in favor of former President Donald Trump because of his support for Putin.
Associates of Putin are vowing an unspecified backlash against the United States.
The indictment accuses Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, employees of RT, formerly known as Russia Today, of a money-laundering scheme that spent nearly $10 million to hire an American online content creation company to conduct a propaganda campaign.
The propaganda allegedly sought to highlight American social divisions under the Biden administration while blaming Ukraine for its war with Russia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry denied the accusations. It also released a statement saying, “There will be a response to the actions of the United States authorities which directly contradict their obligations in the areas of providing free access to information and media pluralism.”
RT is funded and supervised by the Russian government.
The news organization sent out a mocking email Wednesday saying, “2016 called and it wants its cliches back.” It also said, “Hahahaha!”
The indictment says RT executives sponsored “covert projects” that included hiring the Tennessee-based company Tenet Media to publish pro-Russian videos on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter.
The indictment identifies the company only as “U.S. Company-1” but uses identifiers leaving no doubt it refers to Tenet Media.
“Many of the videos published by U.S. Company-1 contain commentary on events and issues in the United States, such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy,” the indictment said. “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.”
Tenet Media has published thousands of videos and podcasts on social media for its RT clients. The YouTube videos alone have recorded about 16 million views.
Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva have not yet been arrested. They are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which bears a maximum prison sentence of five years, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which could be punished by as much as 20 years.
Prosecutors said that although Russia is the worst among the nations trying to influence U.S. elections, other evidence indicates China and Iran might also be attempting it. They have allegedly been aided by social media and artificial intelligence.
“It’s a bigger threat than it ever was before,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference in Washington, D.C.
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said in a statement, “We will be relentlessly aggressive in countering attempts to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy.”
Tenet Media, which publishes mostly conservative content, has not yet responded to the allegations. It was not named as a defendant in the indictment.
The company was founded in 2022 by Lauren Chen, a conservative Canadian YouTuber, and her husband, Liam Donovan.
The indictment says Chen and Donovan knew they were working on behalf of Russian government agents. They hired media influencers to produce videos and podcasts that advocated for conservative causes.
One of them was Tim Pool, a podcast host with 1.3 million YouTube followers.
“Should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims,” Pool wrote on X. “I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed.”
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