Who are Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin? The 6 commentators linked to Tenet indictment

One is a staunch Trump supporter who interviewed the former president on his podcast, another's career has been marked by repeated scandals including plagiarism at BuzzFeed, and another is a Canadian alt-right commentator who has been demonetized by YouTube.

They're among six conservative personalities who are the heart of a scandal accusing a Tennessee-based media company of being a mouthpiece for Russian propagandists trying to spread misinformation in the U.S.

In a Department of Justice indictment unsealed Wednesday, Russian state media company RT is accused of bankrolling a $10 million campaign through a company that was not named but is an exact match for Tennessee-based Tenet Media.

Specifically, RT is accused of sowing political confusion and division in the U.S. and distributing Russian misinformation via U.S. social media influencers on TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube. The more than 2,000 videos posted by Tenet in the last 10 months have been viewed more than 16 million times on YouTube alone, according to the indictment.

Tenet Media produced content with six main far-right commentators serving as creators, hosts, influencers and information disseminators, five Americans and one Canadian. As of Thursday, most have released statements denying any knowledge of the alleged plot.

Here's what to know about Tenet Media's main six: Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, Tayler Hansen, Matt Christiansen and Lauren Southern.

Tim Pool

Tim Pool is a right-wing commentator and podcaster host who got his start livestreaming the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests. He later reported for recognized digital media outlets Vice Media and Fusion TV but eventually went solo with his YouTube channel and podcasts.

Now boasting over 1.3 million followers on YouTube, Pool is a staunch Trump supporter who hosted the former president on his podcast, along with controversial guests like Kanye West. In 2020, a report from the Election Integrity Partnership called Pool a "superspreader" of fake news surrounding voter fraud before and after the 2020 election.

Pool matches the DOJ indictment's description of "Commentator-2," who is accused in the document of working for a fictional "private investor" and agreeing to host and provide weekly videos to Tenet for $100,000 per video.

Pool posted a response to the indictment on Wednesday, saying that "should these allegations prove true, I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims.

"I cannot speak for anyone else at the company as to what they do or to what they are instructed."

He went on to say he "never produced any content for Tenet Media" and that "never at any point did anyone other than I have full editorial control of the show." He ended the post by saying "Putin is a scumbag" and throwing a jab at "journalists who wish to jump the gun, create their own narrative, or lie about what is currently going on."

Benny Johnson

Benny Johnson is a vocal Trump supporter, conservative YouTube personality and former Buzzfeed reporter who was fired from the outlet in 2014 for plagiarism.

Also a former contributor to right-wing websites like Breitbart, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, and Newsmax TV, Johnson's history in media is marked by scandal.

After joining the Independent Journal Review in 2015, Johnson was again accused of plagiarism, promoting conspiracy theories and writing stories based on false sources. He was let go from the Journal Review in 2017 and later focused on his YouTube channel, which has 2.4 million subscribers.

A video of an interview hosted by Johnson was posted on Tenent Media’s YouTube channel Wednesday, the same day the indictment was unsealed.

Johnson released a statement on the indictment the same day, saying he was "disturbed by the allegations" and that "myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme."

He also described his involvement with the "media startup" as an independent contractor situation that his lawyers negotiated via a "standard, arms-length deal which was later terminated." He threatened legal action against anyone who "states or suggests" he or the other commentators were anything but victims.

Dave Rubin

Dave Rubin is a conservative commentator and YouTuber who identifies as libertarian and has been criticized for platforming "extremist" sources. . A formerly self-identified "liberal," Rubin began his career attempting comedy before launching his YouTube channel called The Rubin Report in 2012. It now has 2.5 million subscribers.

He has hosted different iterations of "The Rubin Report" on networks including "The Young Turks," RYOT and Larry King's Ora TV. It is now available on BlazeTV and YouTube.

Rubin has endorsed Trump and also supported Ron DeSantis' 2024 run during the Republican primaries.

Rubin matches the indictment's description of "Commentator-1," who produced "four weekly videos that he would host and would be live-streamed by Tenet Media in exchange for $400,000 per month and a $100,000 signing bonus."

In a statement about the indictment, Rubin say allegations "clearly show that I and other commentators were the victims of this scheme."

"I knew absolutely nothing about any of this fraudulent activity. Period. ‘People of the Internet’ was a silly show covering viral videos which ended four months ago. The DoJ has never contacted me regarding this matter and I have no intention to comment further," he said.

Lauren Southern

Lauren Southern, the only woman of the Tenet group, is a Candian alt-right commentator, YouTuber and MAGA supporter.

Her content has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "anti-feminist, xenophobic, Islamophobic diatribes" that "tiptoe at the precipice of outright white nationalism," though she denies claims of being the latter. In 2017, she promoted the racial Great Replacement conspiracy theory on her YouTube channel, drawing criticism, and her 2018 "Farmlands" documentary has been described as promoting the white genocide conspiracy theory. She has also publicly supported figures like American neo-Nazi Richard B. Spencer.

In 2015, she ran as a libertarian candidate in the Canadian federal election and finished last with 535, or 0.9%, of total votes.

Southern worked for Rebel Media, a Canadian far-right website, until 2017 when she went independent. Her YouTube channel has 712,000 subscribers. She has been banned from Patreon and GoFundMe, denied entry to the United Kingdom, banned from speaking in New Zealand and demonetized by YouTube.

In 2018, she visited Russian far-right political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin in Moscow, posting videos of an interview with him titled "From Russia With Love." She later defended him, saying "it’s incorrect to call him a fascist."

As the only woman of the group, she was identifiable in the indictment documents as "Commentator-4," who was mentioned briefly as having provided raw and edited video footage to Tenet editors.

Southern had not commented on the indictment as of 5 p.m. ET Thursday.

Tayler Hansen

Taylor Hansen is a self-identified field reporter and host for Tenent Media. His coverage of has included of reports alleging child abuse at drag shows, claims of "anti-white racism" at a university and several stories defending Jan. 6 insurrectionists and championing Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot storming the capital.

His Tenet bio boasts that Tayler’s work "has been shared by the 45th President Of The United States on numerous occasions."

His statement about the indictment painted it as a"big smear job against an uncensored, unapologetic, and America first media company" that is the result of "malicious persecution by the Government" and is part of a "coordinated" attack by leftists.

"These allegations come as a complete shock to me and the other hosts at TENET Media. I want to be as clear as possible, I was never directed to report on any topic and had complete freedom and control over my reporting at all times," he said. "I would never agree to any arrangement where I am not the sole person in charge of the stories I cover and content I create."In a follow-up post, Hansen mocked the investigation and indictment, writing "Breaking News / Live Protest Coverage = RUSSIAN ELECTION DISINFORMATION EFFORT!!!" with a screenshot of himself doing news coverage.

Matt Christiansen

Matt Christiansen is a right-wing podcaster and YouTuber whose videos are "hosted exclusively on TENET Media’s YouTube, Rumble, and Facebook channels." He also hosts a Tenet podcast called the "Matt Christiansen Hour" and the independent "Matt & Blonde Show" alongside Rebecca Hargraves.

Christiansen's independent channel has about 235,000 subscribers. He often posts videos promoting Trump and theories about other candidates, such as calling Kamala Harris a "communist," accusing the Democratic party of "abortion propaganda" and, mostly recently, sharing an anti-immigration video based around the now largely disproven claims of a Venezuelan gang "taking over Colorado apartments."

"At no point has anyone ever directed me what to say or not to say, and I would never agree to anything otherwise," he said in a post on Wednesday. "My videos and streams for Tenet are exactly the same as my videos and streams on my personal channels. Every word is from me and me alone."

In a livestream, Christiansen identified himself as “Commentator-6," who was only mentioned briefly in the indictment about a video announcement regarding his collaboration with Tenet. In the stream, he insisted there is no proof of Russian involvement in the media company and said: "I was not duped, wittingly or unwittingly. Everyone’s been honest with me, as far as I’m aware.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tenet Media indictment: What to know about company's 6 influencers