A recently unsealed Department of Justice indictment alleges that a Russia-sponsored scheme tried to influence public opinion using a prominent conservative media company. Many of the right-wing influencers associated with that company have publicly called themselves “victims.”
But that didn’t stop Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Fox News host Laura Ingraham from denying on Thursday the veracity of the charges. In fact, Hawley and Ingraham went so far as to imply that the indictment was some kind of deep-state attempt to help Vice President Kamala Harris win this year’s election.
“This is the third straight presidential election, Laura, that they’ve tried this,” Hawley told Ingraham. “Nobody believes this stuff. This isn’t about foreign interference by Russia. This is a smokescreen for domestic interference by our deep state and the Democrat Party. This is the same play that they’ve run for years. In 2016, the FBI used this playbook in order to interfere in our election that year.”
The DOJ alleges that Russian operatives funneled nearly $10 million into a Tennessee-based company, which CNN confirmed to be the right-wing Tenet Media, in order to push content friendly to the Kremlin’s interests. And it seems that Hawley and Ingraham’s head-up-ass approach here isn’t shared by their conservative brethren.
Semafor reported that the right-wing Blaze Media cut ties with one of its YouTube influencers, Lauren Chen, on Thursday. Chen and her husband co-founded Tenet Media.
Tim Pool, a Tenet-affiliated podcaster who has attacked Ukraine as “the enemy,” wrote on X, “I have been contacted by the FBI as a potential victim of a crime[.] The FBI believes I have information relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation and have requested a voluntary interview[.] I will be offering my assistance in this matter.”
Pool added that “[if] 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.”
Benny Johnson, the far-right commentator who is listed as part of Tenet’s “talent” on the company’s website, wrote that he is “disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.”
Hawley’s denialism isn’t surprising since he’s long been doing pro-Russian foreign policy work for free.
