The House of Commons announced Monday that Canadian influencer Lauren Cheng, who is accused of aiding Russian propaganda, refused to answer questions from MPs during a parliamentary committee hearing on Tuesday. They have been asked to consider whether the charges fall under contempt.
Ms. Chen was summoned to appear before the House Public Safety and National Security Committee following explosive allegations in the United States linking her and her husband to foreign influence activities.
In September, the U.S. Department of Justice dropped charges against two Russians accused of establishing a conservative media outlet as a front for pro-Kremlin propaganda.
Although the indictment did not name the media organization, details in the complaint made it clear that it was referring to Tenet Media, which was founded in 2023 by Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan.
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.
Chen, whose lawyer was off-screen during Tuesday’s hearing, indicated in his opening statement that he would not answer questions as he is the subject of a U.S. criminal investigation.
“Both Canada and the United States strongly respect the right to be free from self-incrimination,” she said.
Over the next 45 minutes, Chen repeated the same nine words: “For the reasons already stated, I have no comment.”
She repeated that line even when asked to confirm her name and citizenship, frustrating lawmakers from all walks of life.
Conservative MP Raquel Dancho said: “Unfortunately, I feel that Mr Cheng is making a travesty of this committee.”
Liberal MP Pam Damoff said she was “deeply, deeply disturbed.”
Lawmakers unanimously agreed that Chen’s refusal to answer questions could constitute a breach of privilege, and voted to send the matter to the House of Commons.
According to Rules of Procedure and Custom of the House of Commonsa violation of privilege includes “any disregard or attack on the rights, powers, or immunities of the House of Commons.”
If the House agrees, Mr. Chen could be ordered to “appear in court” in the House of Commons to receive a public reprimand from the Speaker.
Indictment alleges Kremlin-backed disinformation campaign
A U.S. indictment alleges that two Russians, both employees of state broadcaster RT, illegally funneled nearly $10 million to a company widely reported to be Tenet as part of a disinformation campaign. I am doing it.
According to the indictment, the company in question describes itself as “a network of heretical commentators focused on Western political and cultural issues,” which matches the description word for word on Tenet Media’s home page. . The indictment also states that the company was incorporated on January 19, 2022, which matches publicly available Tennessee Secretary of State records.
According to the documents, prosecutors believe the funds were shared with conservative Tenet media figures to covertly promote Kremlin policies.
Many of the videos released by Tenet “contain commentary about events and issues occurring in the United States, including immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy,” the indictment says.
“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.”
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.
Many media personnel involved in Tenet, including Tim Poole, Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin, issued statements saying they had no knowledge of the alleged plot.
The unsealed indictment says the company’s founders knew the money was coming from “Russians.”
Chen and Donovan have not been charged.
The indictment also includes more than a dozen references to other Canadian companies owned by Mr. Chen and Mr. Donovan that were used as vehicles to receive payments from RT.
A CBC News investigation found that a federally registered entity linked to Chen and Donovan called Roaming Millennial Inc. had an address in Montreal until last November.
