MAGA-aligned media influencer Benny Johnson is working to get out in front of revelations that his company supplied content to a fledgling media operation that was allegedly funded by Russian operatives seeking to influence the 2024 U.S. elections.
After the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment of two Russian media operatives reportedly paying millions to source American content that espouses pro-Russian messaging, Johnson issued a statement on social media seeking to emphasize that he was ignorant of the Russian funding at the core of the operation.
Johnson, who boasts 2.7M followers on X, asserts that the allegations in the indictment “make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.”
A statement on the leaked DOJ indictment today:
A year ago, a media startup pitched my company to provide content as an independent contractor. Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated. We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s…
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 4, 2024
Johnson’s statement says lawyers “negotiated a standard, arms length deal” for his company to “provide content” for the suspected operation as an “independent contractor,” saying the deal was “later terminated.”
Presuming people will seek more details about the content and contract Johnson refers to — and anticipating further speculation about what he knew about this partnership — Johnson fired a preemptive warning to those who might characterize him as something other than the victim of the scheme. “My lawyers,” he writes, “will handle anyone who states or suggests otherwise.”
Johnson recently made waves platforming Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) — see below.
Rep Nancy Mace just exposed CNN’s race-obsessed fraudsters unlike any other:
Revealing one of the screeching libs on the CNN panel with her who accused her of being a “white supremacist” for “mispronouncing” Kamala’s name HIT ON HER after
She brought the receipts
HOLY SMOKES pic.twitter.com/OoeHacR75E
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 3, 2024