Who is Tim Pool? MAGA influencer who allegedly received money from Russian influence operation attends WH press briefing

His appearance at White House press briefing comes as the Trump administration established a New Media seat in the press room to provide people from YouTube and podcasts a voice.

During the briefing, Pool, the host of the Timcast IRL podcast, asked the first question about “wrongly” deported Maryland man.

Bashing the entire media, he said, “Many of the news organization represented in this room have marched in lock step on false narratives, such as the ‘very fine people’ hoax, the Covington smear, and now, the ‘Maryland man’ hoax. Where an MS-13 gang member, adjudicated by 2 different judges I believe, is simply being referred to as a ‘Maryland man’ over and over again.”

Reacting to Pool’s remarks, Leavitt said, “We want to welcome all viewpoints into this room. We welcome unbiased journalists who really care about the truth and the facts and the accuracy; and you rightfully pointed out the “Maryland man” story, which I from this podium when The Atlantic published it, on that very first day I came to this podium and said, “This is wrong”,” she added.

She further claimed that President Donald Trump was always “right” about the issue to deport Kilmar Abgrego Garcia, “an illegal criminal from our community”. “It is despicable to see the media continue to refer to this individual as someone who is just a peaceful man living his life in Maryland. This is, was, and always has been an illegal criminal, an MS-13 gang member, and a designated foreign terrorist; and the administration maintains our position to deport these individuals from our community.”

What we about Tim Pool and allegations against him

“They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation,” stated US prosecutors in an indictment filed last year.

The indictment further said that the Russian state media employees covertly funded a media company associated with six conservative influencers, including well-known figures Pool, Dave Rubin, and Benny Johnson, to produce English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, such as its war in Ukraine.

Th indictment even suggested that Moscow may be trying to take advantage of the rapidly growing popularity of right-wing podcasters, live-streamers, and other content creators who have found lucrative careers on social media in the years since Trump was in office.

The influencers, some of whom the US Justice Department claims were misinformed about the firm’s funding source, are not accused of any wrongdoing. Rather, the department charges two workers of the Russian state media outlet RT with transferring about $10 million to a content production firm in Tennessee for Russia-friendly content.