Gobsmacked by the amount of cash these grifters were pulling down from Russia.
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Gobsmacked by the amount of cash these grifters were pulling down from Russia. ALLEGEDLY. Benny Johnson: $400,000 per month. Tim Pool: $100,000 per week for ONE VIDEO.
It’s fucking surreal. Almost a half million bucks a month EACH for these bottom-feeding goons.
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Simon Willisonreplied to Charles Johnson on last edited by
@Green_Footballs I’d been wondering why influential Republicans had started turning against Ukraine, turns out the answer was pretty simple
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@Green_Footballs @jalefkowit wow. What is the source on this allegation ? That would really explain a lot if it’s true
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@glyph @Green_Footballs @jalefkowit Gift link, may ask for email.
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Jason Lefkowitzreplied to Sami Juvonen on last edited by
@sjuvonen @glyph If you want the nitty gritty, the full indictment (just dropped in SDNY today) is linked here.
It anonymizes the names of the Americans who took the money, but the circumstances described all fit a Tennessee-based conservative media outlet called Tenet Media, which was paying Johnson & Pool to produce content.
Two RT Employees Indicted For Covertly Funding And Directing U.S. Company That Published Thousands Of Videos In Furtherance Of Russian Interests
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States; Lisa Monaco, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States; Matthew G. Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Christopher A. Wray, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”); and Christie M.
(www.justice.gov)
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@jalefkowit @sjuvonen thank you, this is amazing. I know that it’s unlikely but I will just entertain the fantasy for now that we might get to see tim pool tried for treason
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@glyph @sjuvonen He is claiming that he wasn't aware the company that was paying him was funded by the Russians, which from what I'm reading may be a valid defense. You'd have to be pretty stupid to not have suspicions about an offer of $100K to make one video, but stupidity isn't a federal offense. (Sigh.)
The FOUNDERS of Tenet Media, on the other hand, are going to have a much harder time pleading ignorance
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Sami Juvonenreplied to Jason Lefkowitz on last edited by
@jalefkowit @glyph Interesting you think they could be duped in this. I haven’t actually read it all, but it just sounds like one of those situations where everyone knows, but they keep to an agreed cover story.
I’m sure they think they have built a perfect setup. But they’re not the smartest guys and things can get out of hand. I’m sure they are not the only ones on that particular payroll. So, interesting times ahead, possibly.
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Jason Lefkowitzreplied to Sami Juvonen on last edited by [email protected]
@sjuvonen @glyph Oh, I do not think any of them were duped. I think they all knew what the game was. Josh Marshall mentioned on X that a lot of the right-wing mediasphere is funded by dark money these days -- not necessarily Russian dark money, but money from people who'd rather not turn up in the Washington Post. People working in that space learn quickly not to ask too many questions about who's writing the checks.
I'm just talking about from the legal perspective -- if Pool says he didn't know, and nobody can produce evidence that he did know, he's probably safe.