“I feel Ms. Chen is making a farce of this committee and it’s deeply, deeply disappointing.”
Peter Smith
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Screen capture of Lauren Chen appearing before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
Canadian YouTuber and CEO of the far-right Tenet Media Lauren Chen appeared before a parliamentary national security committee to discuss the allegations she took money from Russian state media.
Despite having parliamentary privilege extended to her for the appearance in front of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, she refused to respond to questions asked by the committee.
Chen and Tenet Media are at the center of an investigation into Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afansyeva, alleging violations of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act, and conspiracy to launder almost $10 million through payments to Tenet Media.
Chen read a lengthy statement that explained she would not be testifying as statements in Canada may impact the case in the United States, adding that she would return after disclosure is complete in the American case.
Unwavering in her response to any questions—even refusing to confirm her name and citizenship—Chen answered every question from the committee the same: “For the reasons already given I have no comment.”
Members of Parliament who attempted to question Chen expressed frustration at her answers and that she needed to be summoned to appear—something that was called “quite rare” by one member.
“I feel Ms. Chen is making a farce of this committee and it’s deeply, deeply disappointing,” said Raquel Dancho, Conservative MP for Kildonan-St. Paul, Manitoba and vice-chair of the committee.
The committee voted unanimously to compel Chen to answer their questions.
After several MPs tried to ask Chen questions, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor moved a motion that the “committee instructs the clerk and analyst to prepare a report to the House which the chair shall table forthwith outlining the potential breach of privilege concerning Laura [sic] Chen's refusal to answer questions of the committee.”
The motion was carried unanimously.
It was also noted that there was a motion to compel Liam Donovan, Chen’s husband and Tenet Media president, and Lauren Southern, a Canadian content creator with longstanding connections to far-right organizations and media, to appear before the committee before November 29.
Chen said in her opening statement that she was represented by David Anber, a lawyer who previously represented former Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Randy Hillier and protester Jay Vanderwier for their participation in the 2022 convoy protests in Ottawa. He ran for the People’s Party of Canada in Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, Ontario in the 2021 federal election.
Founded by Canadian Chen and Tenet’s president Liam Donovan, Tenet Media is home to some of the largest conservative political commentators on YouTube. Among its roster are big names in digital content including Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson.
Tenet Media is owned by its directors Liam Donovan and Canadian Lauren Chen (Lauren Yu Sum Tam), with Chen also working as a YouTube video creator, albeit with a viewership much lower than the company’s primary products, figures like Pool and Southern.
Initially called “Roaming Millennial Incorporated,” Chen’s former account name on YouTube, the Canadian branch of the business was set up in Quebec during 2017, according to filings with Corporations Canada. A similar American entity was registered in Nashville, Tennessee in 2022 as Roaming USA Corp by Liam Donovan, which also operates as Tenet Media.
Chen developed her brand much like another member of the Tenet roster, Lauren Southern, by creating videos that reinforced popular arguments against left-leaning or progressive politics. Chen often cast her opponents as individuals who hated traditional beauty standards or were hostile toward traditional concepts of femininity. She typically lambasts transgender people for either propagating and/or being victimized by “gender ideology.”
Tenet Media followed this tone, focusing on recruiting talent making content through an anti-immigration and anti-transgender lens.
In the wake of the news, Blaze Media, a conservative media company fired Chen as a contributor, according to the publication Semafor. Neither Chen nor Donovan, her husband, have been charged in relation to the case.
A screen capture of some of the content promoted on the Tenet Media YouTube channel. Source: YouTube.
RT and RT France were removed from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) listing of approved non-Canadian programming services in 2022. The indictment claims that approximately 90% of Tenet’s funding came from the $9.7 million USD provided by the two named RT employees.
“Canada has been working in close cooperation with the U.S. and other allies on this serious matter,” the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs said in a statement on Thursday. “While we are unable to comment on ongoing investigations, we are united in confronting Russia’s aggression and subversion against democratic societies and we will not hesitate to take any actions necessary to hold Russian threat actors to account.”
The statement added that any Canadians who assist in “Russia’s persistent attempts” to use “disinformation, criminal and covert activities, and corruption” will face prosecution.
Chen did not respond to a previous email from CAHN requesting comment on the indictment.
The court also heard a breakdown by investigators that matched the location of a second video to a former schoolhouse in rural Quebec.
A 3D printer, a framed picture of Adolf Hitler, and a knife with Nazi symbols were found in Patrick Macdonald’s home.