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Founder of Russian Propaganda Media Quietly Returns to US With White House Support
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The Trump administration has quietly facilitated the return of Lauren Chen, the founder of the Russia-linked propaganda outlet Tenet Media, to the United States—even as a federal investigation into the operation remains unresolved, The Bulwark reported on December 30.
Chen, a Canadian national and prominent figure in right-wing online media, had left the US earlier this year after federal investigators exposed Tenet Media as an outlet allegedly funded through covert financial channels connected to Russia’s state propaganda apparatus. The FBI previously described Tenet as part of an influence operation tied to RT, Moscow’s international propaganda network.
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As The Bulwark detailed, Chen abruptly lost her US work visa in mid-2024, following the unsealing of indictments in New York that accused Russian nationals of laundering millions of dollars to fund Tenet’s operations.
While Chen herself was not charged, court filings described her and her husband as key intermediaries in routing foreign money into US political media while skirting disclosure requirements.
Disgraced conservative media personality Lauren Chen, the founder of Tenet Media on YouTube, which provided a platform to several right-wing commentators including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin, and was exposed by the FBI in 2024 for taking millions in funding from the… pic.twitter.com/zMzIaW1mcV
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 30, 2025
Following the revelations, Chen left the country, disappeared from public view, and publicly complained that her visa had been effectively “destroyed.”
But recently, Chen announced on social media that she was back in the United States, thanking senior officials across multiple federal agencies for helping her reenter the country.
According to The Bulwark, her return was explicitly supported by a senior State Department adviser with close ties to the Trump administration, who later confirmed his involvement publicly.
The intervention is striking given that the underlying federal case remains open. As The Bulwark notes, the Justice Department’s indictment targeted the Russian financiers behind Tenet Media—not Chen—but described an elaborate scheme involving shell entities, false personas, and undisclosed foreign funding designed to influence American political discourse.
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Despite the seriousness of those allegations, the investigation has made little visible progress over the past year. The Russian nationals accused in the case remain outside US jurisdiction, and no new charges have been announced.
Neither the FBI, the State Department, Customs and Border Protection, nor the White House responded to requests for comment, The Bulwark reported. Chen and her husband likewise declined to answer questions about how her visa status was resolved.
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Meanwhile, many of the high-profile commentators who benefited from Tenet’s funding have suffered few professional consequences.
As The Bulwark points out, several have expanded their audiences since the scandal broke, while Chen remains the only figure who faced immediate personal fallout—at least until her return was quietly arranged.
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