Tenet Mediaās Lauren Chen is backāeven though the illegal-influence and money-laundering investigation remains open.
Will Sommer at The Bulwark:
RIGHT-WING MEDIA PERSONALITY Lauren Chen left the United States in July in disgrace. Her Tenet MediaĀ YouTube channel, which positioned itself as a sort of MAGA supergroup bringing together such popular commentators as Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin, had beenĀ exposedĀ in 2024 by the FBI as a Russian media front illicitly taking money from pro-Putin propaganda outlet RT. The September 2024 indictment from the Southern District of New York targeted TenetāsĀ 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.
In the wake of the indictment, ChenĀ lost her work visaĀ 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. But this holiday season, Chen and her husband were back in Nashville, where she lived while running Tenet. She broke the news herself, byĀ announcingĀ on Instagram and X on Christmas Day that she could now return to the United States, and specifically thanking the State Departmentās Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser on consular affairs and former Trump presidential campaign worker, for his help. āThe 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!ā Chen wrote on Instagram. Chen also thanked Customs and Border Patrol, the FBI, and āthe administrationā broadly.
[...] THE IDEA THAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION would assist the foreign founders of an illegally funded media outlet aimed at reaching American audiences with Russian propaganda might seem outlandish. Indeed, it might be the first time the administration has offered assistance to someone from Canada. But the administration has not shied away from throwing bones to right wing media figuresāprioritizing them at White House functions and elevating them at the briefings. As for Russian interests, the president has long been outwardly comfortable associating with them. The FBI declined to comment. CBP, the White House, and the State Department didnāt respond to requests for comment. Neither did Chen or Rittenhouse.
[...] The Trump administrationās intervention on Chenās behalf comes as it has moved to dramatically restrict visa rules more broadlyāevenĀ denyingĀ visas to activists opposed to disinformation. RittenhouseĀ himselfĀ has briefed the media on the administrationās student-visa revocations. From my point of view, Trumpās help for Chen and her husband also hurts theĀ realĀ injured parties: Johnson, Rubin, and Pool. After all, with Chen and her husband on the loose in America once again, is any pro-Trump media star safe from being targeted with the next Tenet-like con?
Trump Regime lets crooked Russian asset and TENET Media founder Lauren Chen back into America.
