Even by the standards of Russia, Russia, Russia hoaxes, the Tenet Media/Lauren Chen case makes no sense:
— Chen was riling up pro-lifers *against* Trump. @Cernovich, Steve Deace, and others had been calling out these “purists” for weeks, and now they’re vindicated.
— Chen was also pushing a “Repeal the 19th” message that was so fanatical that it seemed designed to discredit conservatives. @stclairashley called it out as a possible op, and she’s been proven right.
— The indictment explicitly states that none of the conservative podcasters recruited by Tenet knew this was Russian influence. They were likely hired to boost the Tenet channel. But to what end? Tenet wasn’t helpful to Trump at all. So was Putin trying to get Biden/Harris reelected? That’s effectively the claim.
— Given how little makes sense here, only Joe McCarthy wannabes are running with this and making accusations. The podcasters who are being smeared (despite the DOJ itself exonerating them) should consider filing some defamation suits.
— As far as Red Scares go, this one seems pretty lame and people are seeing through it. Hopefully this means we’re at the end of Russiagate hoaxes.