In 2016, during a nationally televised debate, then-candidate Donald Trump infamously said, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
Russian operatives took the hint and immediately began targeting the email of Clinton campaign staff and its associates. We all know what happened next: Russian interference in the U.S. Election and Trump’s Administration became a dominant story in American political news for much of Trump’s time in office. There were multiple investigations, from the Mueller Report to the U.S. Senate investigation. As a result, we know quite a bit about Russia’s ongoing attempts to interfere in American politics and culture.
But we’ve also memory-holed a lot of our knowledge. Folks on the Right long ago declared Russian interference was overblown at best, but most determined it was all a hoax designed to discredit Donald Trump. Folks on the left were deflated that the Mueller investigation didn’t result in Trump being indicted or removed from office. The COVID pandemic understandably sucked up all the oxygen in the room. And by the 2020 election, the Republican party had been wholly taken over by MAGA and homegrown far-right actors—clearly, a more immediate problem.
But Russia’s interference attempts never stopped, and anyone paying attention to MAGA influencers when talking about Ukraine could see the lines of communication were still open. Even if we didn’t know precisely what those efforts looked like. It was a continual hum in the background, one you eventually learned to tune out of your awareness.
But this week, Russian interference is back in the news and our discourse. Via a DOJ indictment, we learned that a Russian Influence Operation was actually paying some well-known MAGA grifter-influencers large sums of money. Per the indictment, employees of Russia Today funneled nearly $10 million to MAGA influencers via Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based media company. Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, David Rubin, Lauren Southern, Tayler Hansen, and Matt Christiansen, among others, were all useful idiots for Vladimir Putin.
“Unwittingly” is the word used in the indictment, and so far, that seems to be the line these folks are going within their statements. Benny Johnson says he and his fellow grifters are “victims in this alleged scheme.” Tim Pool says that should the allegations prove true, he and “the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims.” Dave Rubin also referred to himself and his colleagues as “victims of this scheme.”
I don’t have much trouble believing these guys didn’t know. Mainly because they probably didn’t want to know. A grift is a grift, and as long as the money flows into your bank account, why worry about where it’s coming from? But it’s worth noting that the DOJ describes their content as “pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation” and the operation as an effort to “sow division and trick Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda.” Certainly, these folks were all aware that what they were peddling bore a striking resemblance to Russian propaganda, especially when it came to U.S. involvement in Ukraine.
But considering how Rubin, Pool, and Johnson loved to denounce and mock the idea of Russian interference in American politics as the “Russia Hoax,” it’s incredibly entertaining to watch them all describe themselves as victims of a Russian influence operation. How can you be the victim of something you claim doesn’t exist? A question I assume their lawyers are now parsing as they advise their clients on how not to incriminate themselves.
READ: China-Linked ‘Spamouflage’ Network Mimics Americans Online to Sway US Political Debate
Less amusing is how these same MAGA influencers played a crucial role in large-scale targeted harassment campaigns against disinformation and social media researchers for years while on Russia’s dime. Pool, Johnson, and Rubin were all boosters of #TheTwitterFiles and Jim Jordan’s various Congressional investigations designed to harass and intimidate researchers and the funders and institutions backing their work. Both the MAGA Right and Russian operatives had a personal and financial incentive to shut this kind of research down by any means necessary, and they had no qualms about trying to destroy the reputations and lives of people who didn’t deserve any of it.
Wired’s David Gilbert has a helpful rundown of the indictment and Russia’s strategy. Russian operatives “targeted existing divisions within US society, using racist stereotypes and far-right conspiracies to target supporters of former president Donald Trump.” (Similar to the Trump campaign’s own strategy.) The goal is to ensure a Trump victory. Prominent MAGA influencers, including candidates and elected officials, appeared on the various channels. YouTube has now removed the Tenet Media channels from the platform.
As we learn more about the DOJ’s case against the RT employees and any additional indictments that might come along, it will be interesting to see who else might be or have been on a Russian-backed payroll. Or how else MAGA influencers, even electeds, might be entangled.
It’s difficult to write or think about Russian interference without starting to feel like a conspiracy-monger yourself. The news cycle in 2017-18 moved at such a frantic pace that it was hard to keep up back then, much less remember the details when we revisit it now. It doesn’t help that right-wing media’s response to the news is even more false conspiracy theories designed to distract us and addle our brains.
I’ll end with this: America won’t survive a second Trump Administration. Russia’s influence on Donald Trump and his MAGA coalition is simply one of many reasons why this is true. For the next few months, our focus needs to remain on the election and doing anything and everything we can to help Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump and keep power out of MAGA’s hands.
READ: Common Cause Addresses Emerging and Evolving Threats to Upcoming 2024 Election
We can also enjoy watching Tim Pool, David Rubin, and Benny Johnson squirm as they try to minimize their own legal troubles. As a treat.
This is an excerpt from Ctrl Alt-Right Delete, a newsletter produced in partnership with COURIER — a civic media company. It was republished with the author’s permission. Subscribe HERE.
