Influencers associated with the company in the Russian election interference case have spoken out, claiming they are victims.

A group of conservative media personalities associated with a Tennessee-based media company claim to be victims after the Department of Justice accused Russia of secretly funding the company as part of a divisive propaganda scheme.

On Wednesday, the DOJ released a startling indictment accusing two Russian state media employees of secretly funding a Tennessee-based American content creation company, known as Tenet Media, through RT, the Russian state media outlet. The indictment claims that Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, employees of RT, shelled out nearly $10 million, which was allegedly laundered through a series of shell companies. The two suspects remain at large.

Nearly 2,000 videos were published by a Russian-backed American company on social media platforms such as X and YouTube, without informing viewers of the Kremlin's funding, according to the indictment. These videos were created by conservative influencers who were paid for their work.

The indictment stated that several videos published by U.S. Company-1 contained commentary on American issues, including immigration, inflation, and domestic and foreign policy. Although the views expressed in the videos were not uniform, the subject matter and content of the videos were often consistent with the Russian government's interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to Russian interests, such as its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Tenet Media, a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues, was later identified as Company-1. The company employs widely followed conservative commentators Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Lauren Southern, Taylor Hansen, and Matt Christiansen. Supporters of former President Trump, they are not accused of any wrongdoing and several spoke out after the indictment was announced.

Johnson responded on X, stating that a year ago, a media startup pitched his company to provide content as an independent contractor. The lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated. He is disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that he and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme. His lawyers will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise.

Rubin issued a statement denying any knowledge of the alleged fraud.

The allegations made against me and other commentators prove that we were victims of this scheme. I had no knowledge of any fraudulent activity. "People of the Internet" was a show that covered viral videos and ended four months ago. The DOJ has not contacted me about this matter, and I have no intention to provide any further comment.

If the allegations are proven to be true, Pool wrote that he and other personalities were "deceived and are victims."

"I cannot speak for anyone else at the company regarding their work or instructions. The Culture War Podcast was licensed by Tenet Media, but it existed before any agreement with Tenet and will continue to exist after it expires. The only change with the agreement was the location of the live broadcast moving to Tenet's Youtube Channel. I and TCW never produced any content for Tenet Media," Pool wrote.

"At no time did anyone other than me have full control of the show and its content, which often focused on apolitical topics such as spirituality, dating, and videos games. The show was entirely produced by our local team without any external input. TCW is a separate company not affiliated with Timcast.com or other properties. It was created solely for the production of the Culture War Podcast. However, we cannot verify the truth of these allegations that Putin is a scumbag."

Another Tenet content creator, Hansen, was taken aback by the allegations.

Hansen wrote on X that he wanted to be as clear as possible, stating that he had never been directed to report on any specific topic and had complete freedom and control over his reporting at all times. He would never agree to any arrangement where he was not the sole person in charge of the stories he covered and the content he created.

The Attorney General stated that the DOJ will take a tough stance against any attempts by the Russian government or other malicious actors to interfere in elections and harm our democracy.

RT responded to the allegations by stating that they had multiple reactions but couldn't choose one, so they listed them all. They even considered running an office poll.

"The following were among the clichés that resurfaced in 2016: "2016 called and it wants its clichés back," "Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT's interference in the U.S. elections," "We gotta earn our Kremlin paycheck somehow," and "Somewhere Secretary Clinton is sad that it's not because of her.""

The Justice Department made RT register as a foreign agent in 2017.

This report was contributed to by Alexander Hall, Greg Norman, and David Spunt of Planet Chronicle Digital.