“If the American people knew that these views were being directed and paid for by the Russian government, they wouldn’t have 16 million views,” said Brandon Van Grack, a former top official in the Justice Department’s national security division who oversaw efforts to police covert foreign influence. “And the Russian government knew that, which is why the Russian government went to such lengths to hide their direction and funding.”

The case has raised questions about what Tenet’s founders knew about the $10 million they allegedly received from the two Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, who were indicted Wednesday on charges of conspiring to launder money and operate as unregistered foreign agents. Both defendants, who remain overseas, worked at Russian state-media outlet RT, which has long been accused of being an organ of Kremlin propaganda. The charges also have spurred complaints from Tenet’s online personalities who say they were as duped as anyone and would have produced the same content anyway. ...