A right-wing Canadian commentator who produced videos for a media outlet now accused of promoting Russian propaganda says he was never influenced to produce content for the embattled company.
Lauren Southern, a well-known figure in conservative circles, testified Thursday before the House Public Safety and National Security Committee in response to a U.S. indictment linking Tenet Media to foreign influence operations.
“I’m not influenced by anyone,” Southern told lawmakers during an ordeal of an hour of testimony.
“Let me be clear once again: No one but myself and my true experiences as a Canadian have informed my opinion.”
In September, The U.S. Department of Justice has unsealed the indictment. for accusing two Russians of establishing conservative media outlets as fronts for pro-Kremlin propaganda.
The newspaper reported that the two Russians, both employees of state broadcaster RT, are working with Tenet Media, a company widely reported to have been founded last year by fellow Canadian Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovan. He claims that he illegally funneled nearly $10 million into the company.
According to the indictment, prosecutors believe the funds were shared with media outlets to covertly promote the Kremlin’s agenda.
“Although the views expressed in the videos are not unified, the subject matter and content of the videos often reflect the Russian government’s desire to widen divisions within the United States in order to weaken U.S. opposition to Moscow’s core interests.” “The war continues in Ukraine,” the indictment states.
Southern said she was first approached by Chen, who she has known for 10 years. She said Donovan was the one who handled the contract.
The YouTuber said he was paid about $275,000 to make dozens of videos. After paying other contractors, supplies and travel expenses, she made about $100,000, she said.
Southern said there was no reason to doubt the source of the money.
“I was just a contracted video creator, so I can’t comment on how this happened,” she said.
“If I had known where the money was coming from, I wouldn’t have worked for them.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said that the U.S.-based influencers and celebrities recruited to support foreign influence operations were unaware of Russian involvement and that their activities were linked to “Eduardo Grigorian.” He said he was led to believe that the funds were being funded by fictitious investors.
In the few short months that Tenet has been running, Southern has produced several videos for the outlet that focus on Canadian issues.
Their titles range from “Canada is becoming a communist hellhole” (which compares Canada to the Soviet Union) to “Mean tweets = life in a Canadian prison?!” (I am criticizing Proposed online harm laws).
Southern, a British Columbia native, was a prominent early figure in the alt-right movement, working for Rebel Media before striking out on his own and building a global audience.
In 2018 she was banned from entering the UK. She told the BBC she was refused entry because of her involvement. “In distributing racist material in Luton.. ”
A Home Office spokesperson said Border Force “has the power to refuse entry to individuals where their presence in the UK is deemed not to be in the public interest”.
Mr. Chen irritated lawmakers during a committee meeting.
According to the U.S. indictment, the companies in question refer to themselves as “a network of heretical commentators focused on Western political and cultural issues,” which is consistent with the description on Tenet Media’s home page. Match word for word. The indictment also states that the company was incorporated on January 19, 2022, which matches Tenet’s publicly available Tennessee Secretary of State records.
The U.S. government has submitted documents revealing ties between Canadian far-right influencer Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovan, a covert propaganda effort by the Russian government to interfere in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. accused of doing so.
Southern was more positive than Chen, who appeared before the committee earlier this month.
The Tenet founder rejected questions from lawmakers, insisting that as the subject of a criminal investigation he has the right to be free from self-incrimination.
Disgruntled committee members then unanimously adopted a motion to send a report to the chair outlining possible privilege violations.
NDP MP Alistair McGregor called on Speaker Greg Fergus to publicly reprimand Mr Chen “in front of the court” in the House of Commons and force him to respond to questions from MPs.
Public recommendations in the House of Commons were once considered an unusual measure, but they have become more frequent in recent years.
This is called “brought in front of the bar” in reference to the brass rail intended to prevent strangers from entering the room.
