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Indictment shows conservative media firm received millions from Russia
The U.S. government has made serious accusations against Russia, alleging a deliberate attempt to manipulate American public opinion through a network of misinformation. This operation involves media outlets and fabricated online profiles to sway the upcoming presidential election. The Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on the heads of RT, the Russian state-controlled propaganda outlet.
The Department of Justice has indicted two RT employees—31-year-old Kostyantin Kalashnikov, and 27-year-old Elena Afanasieva—on charges of conspiring to breach the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and money laundering. Radio Free Europe reported that the indictment also mentions a Hungarian company.
Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based media firm linked to the scheme is at the center of this case, despite not being explicitly named. Tenet Media's founders are Lauren Chen, a conservative YouTuber, and her husband Liam Donovan. Chen recently visited Budapest, where she spoke at the MCC Fest—a forum closely associated with the Hungarian government.
Tenet Media has employed several right-wing influencers featured in Hungarian government media, such as:
- Dave Rubin
- Lauren Southern,
- and Benny Johnson
The company reportedly received $10 million from the Russian government through RT, as part of a scheme to create content with covert Russian messaging, according to U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. The indictment reveals that Chen and her team knew about the Russian connections but failed to register with the Attorney General. Following the indictment’s release, Tenet influencers Benny Johnson and Tim Pool stated on social media that they were victims in this case.
David Pressman condemns refusal of László Kövér to allow the LGBTQ conference in parliament
US Ambassador David Pressman condemned Speaker László Kövér's refusal to allow an international conference on LGBTQ issues to take place in Parliament, 444 reports. Pressman said it was "quite unusual that elected members of parliament from an EU member state are being denied access to parliament because they want to discuss human rights. To deny elected members of the body access to the chamber raises serious and worrying questions".
Kövér first prevented the "Group of Representatives for a Diverse Hungary" from holding a joint consultation on human rights in Parliament in June. The Speaker refused to allow the participants in the Parliament, so the event was held at the Central European University.
Pro-Russia pamphlet handed out at US-Hungarian panel discussion
In October 2022, the Conservative Partnership Institute co-hosted a panel discussion on achieving "peace in Ukraine" featuring Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, Politico reports.
The event, attended by conservative policymakers, national security officials, and GOP strategists, distributed pamphlets advocating overtly pro-Russia positions. The notes warned that "Russia possesses the will, strength, and patience to sustain the war." They also warned that continued U.S. support for Ukraine could lead to its destruction and escalate Russian aggression toward the West, potentially even triggering a nuclear conflict.
Kristofer Harrison, who was a Defense and State Department adviser during the George W. Bush administration told Politico, that the document distributed at the “peace in Ukraine” conference illustrates how “corrupt authoritarians are accessing and abusing our system to undermine U.S. national security,”
The Iranian ex-President had a secret late-night meeting in Budapest
The details of the Iranian ex-president's mysterious visit to Budapest in May have been kept secret by Hungarian authorities, HVG reports. The news site reports that several members of the Hungarian government knew about Ahmadinejad's trip to Budapest in advance and that they were even aware that the former Iranian president had a secret late-night meeting on his agenda.
To HVG's knowledge, no Hungarian government official attended this secret meeting, and it is assumed that Budapest was the venue for a high-level Iran-Israel meeting. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived unexpectedly in Budapest on 7-8 May. An Iranian newspaper revealed that Ahmadinejad would be in Budapest for a conference at the National University of Public Service.
The Hungarian government and intelligence services were aware of Ahmadinejad's trip to Budapest in advance, HVG writes, citing unnamed sources. The Hungarian authorities were also aware that the former Iranian president would have an informal meeting with someone on the night of his arrival. The meeting lasted an unusually long time, until 2 a.m.