Two Russians charged, Internet domains seized in Justice Department probe into election interference

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that in addition to a grand jury indictment of the pair, who are employees of the Russian-controlled media outlet RT, the department was also seizing dozens of Internet domains that were allegedly spreading Russian government propaganda in the United States at the Kremlin’s behest.

Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, face charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They are both fugitives, Justice Department officials said. Each of them faces up to 25 years in prison if arrested and convicted.

Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva allegedly used shell companies to funnel $10 million from the Kremlin to a Tennessee-based company, which in turn spread their videos to millions of viewers on social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X, according to government prosecutors.

The indictment’s description of the Tennessee company matched the description of TENET Media, which was established in 2023 and includes conservative influencers Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, Lauren Southern and three others.

Prosecutors alleged that the two Russian defendants worked with the two unnamed founders of TENET Media, one of whom is listed as Blaze TV host and TPUSA contributor Lauren Chen, to mislead conservative influencers about their funding.

The influencers, who were prominent conservative commentators on the internet long before TENET Media was founded, sometimes asked where TENET Media got its funding, according to the indictment.

For example, when one of the founders of TENET Media approached one of the anonymous social media influencers, who has around 2.4 million followers on YouTube, to produce content, the influencer asked how the company got its money. One of the founders of TENET Media claimed that the funding came from “Eduard Grigoriann,” who was a fictitious person, and the founder provided a one-page fabricated bio to back up the claim.

“After receiving the fictitious profile, (the social media influencer) agreed to work with (TENET Media) and produced approximately 130 videos that were posted on (TENET Media’s) platform,” prosecutors said.

Pool and Johnson said they were victims of the alleged plot. Both said they had no knowledge of TENET Media’s ties to the alleged Russian propaganda.

A statement on today’s leaked Justice Department indictment:

A year ago, a media startup approached my company about providing content as an independent contractor. Our lawyers negotiated a standard agreement, which was later terminated. We are concerned about the allegations being made today…

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 4, 2024

Garland addressed the allegation during an election-related panel discussion, saying Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva’s malign foreign influence scheme involved spreading content to millions of people that was intended to sow divisions in the United States and weaken the country’s broader opposition to Russian interests, including with respect to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The two defendants used multiple false identities to conceal that they were working undercover for the Russian government, according to the indictment.

“The American people have a right to know when a foreign power attempts to exploit the free exchange of ideas in our country to send its own propaganda,” Garland said.

Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray also said Wednesday that the Justice Department was seizing 32 Internet domains and unsealed a 69-page document. affidavit with dozens of attachments showing how the Russian government was allegedly using the websites to influence the 2024 presidential election to Russia’s benefit.