Trump flings open the door for founder of firm that funneled Kremlin cash to GOP influence
The Trump administration is authorizing visas for the founders of an infamous company that facilitated payments from the Russian government to pro-Trump influencers, The Bulwark reported on Monday evening.
Specifically, Lauren Chen, a Canadian right-wing activist who founded the YouTube channel Tenet Media, is getting a second chance after being driven from the United States in disgrace.
"The September 2024 indictment from the Southern District of New York targeted Tenet’s FARA-skirting Russian funders, not Chen or her husband, Liam Donovan. But the Canadian couple were clearly described in the indictment as allegedly scheming with RT employees to direct $10 million to Tenet and even create a fictional persona to mislead one pundit about the source of the funding," said the report. "In the wake of the indictment, Chen lost her work visa and was forced to leave the country. She also vanished from social media. It seemed unlikely she would return to the United States anytime soon."
Tenet Media had been a MAGA platform that paid for commentary from a number of far-right figures, including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin.
None of them were specifically charged with a crime in connection with the Russian cash flowing through Tenet Media to their operations, and indeed Pool has said the FBI reached out to him as a potential crime victim.
Nonetheless, Chen and her husband could soon be right back to work with a new lease on life from the Trump administration.
"This holiday season, Chen and her husband were back in Nashville, where she lived while running Tenet. She broke the news herself, by announcing on Instagram and X on Christmas Day that she could now return to the United States, and specifically thanking the State Department’s Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser on consular affairs and former Trump presidential campaign worker, for his help," said the report. "'The biggest thank you to Joe Rittenhouse at the State Department for moving mountains to ensure we were able to return in time for the holidays!' Chen wrote on Instagram."
Per the report, "Rittenhouse does appear to be a fan of right-wing media. In August, he posted a picture with his feet up on a desk in what appeared to be a government office building, watching a video from right-wing British YouTuber 'Sargon of Akkad,'" who is famous for his anti-immigrant content.