MAGA Propagandist Paid by Russian Government Shows Up at Mar-a-Lago

Right-wing commentator Lauren Chen—who was a central figure in a 2024 indictment related to conservative influencers getting paid to spread “Russian government messaging”—just received a warm welcome at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club.

“First time at Mar-a-Lago,” Chen wrote on X, along with multiple fit pics of her at the Citizen Journalist Gala hosted by right-wing activist James O’Keefe at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.

Chen, a Canadian influencer, founded Tenet Media with her husband in 2022, while she was also contributing to Turning Point USA. Two former RT employees were indicted two years later for giving Chen’s company a $10 million contract to inject pro-Russian propaganda into the conservative media landscape. Chen hired Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, among others. The indictment noted that the influencers were paid to put out English-language videos that were “often consistent with Russia’s interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to core Russian interests.”

Shortly after news of the federal indictment, YouTube removed Tenet Media’s account, Chen was fired from her job with Blaze Media, and she fled the U.S. along with her husband.

“In case anyone has forgotten, Lauren fled the United States in 2024 after the DOJ exposed her for taking millions of dollars from sanctioned Russian entities to hire podcasters to push propaganda to conservatives,” The Scroll’s Park MacDougald wrote online. “She was publicly welcomed back into the United States last year by State Department employee
Joe Rittenhouse] and subsequently invited to the White House Easter Egg Roll. She is now at MAL.”

“Lauren Chen, financed by the Kremlin. ‘First time at Mar-a-Lago,’” journalist and former Polish Ambassador to the U.S. Marek Magierowski said. “It looks like creeping invasion. Congratulations to @SecretService.”

In any other administration, a woman who took money from the Russian government to influence U.S. media being welcomed at the president’s private estate would be a massive scandal. In year two of Trump’s second term, it is merely par for the course.

Mississippi’s Senate race was marred by people being wrongly disqualified from the state voter rolls because of bad data, and the Republican secretary of state is having trouble taking responsibility.

Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office used data on expired addresses from the credit agency Experian to purge Mississippi’s voter rolls, even after being warned that the data was unreliable. On Thursday, Watson threatened to sue the credit agency in a deleted social media post, according to Democracy Docket, after Experian told The Atlantic earlier this week that its data shouldn’t have been used for voter records.

“The solution provided at that time consisted of supplemental address information and was not designed or intended to validate voter records,” Experian vice president for corporate communications Scott Anderson said.

In his now-deleted post, Watson claimed that the credit agency was “crawfishing away” from the state, tagging the Election Assistance Commission, an independent government agency that aids states with elections.

“Should we consider a lawsuit?” Watson wrote to the EAC. “They marketed a product for a specific reason and are now saying it wasn’t designed for that reason. More to come …”

Watson posted again the same day, attacking an article by Experian on its website saying that commercial data could be used to improve voter records.

“Since Experian doesn’t like the heat and appears as if they will not stand by their customers, they may want to delete the below piece from their website,” Watson wrote in a post that is still up.

In a statement to Democracy Docket, Watson’s communications director, Elizabeth Jonson, said that “Mississippi was never told the data was only supplemental or that it was not intended for this use.”

But Mississippi Today reported as early as March that Experian’s data was faulty, and a coalition of civil rights groups sent another last-minute warning to Watson’s office four days before the midterms asking him to reinstate people who were kicked off the voter rolls because of Experian’s data. Those warnings went unheeded, and the state’s election results dragged on because thousands of residents were forced to use affidavit ballots, which had to go through extra steps of verification before being counted.

Kevin Hassett, the smiling face of President Donald Trump’s disastrous economic policy, is expected to leave his role as director of the National Economic Council.

Hassett is expected to depart sometime in the next few weeks, three people familiar with his plans told Semafor Friday. Trump’s happy warrior has been eyeing different positions in the administration since well before the midterm elections, some people said.  

Affordability emerged as a major issue in the recent midterm elections, where Republican candidates suffered sweeping losses and Democrats flipped both the House and Senate. The economy has become one of Trump’s worst issues; a recent poll found that 67 percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy. 

As the mouthpiece for Trump’s crumbling economy, Hassett lied about lowering prices, denied data, and, of course, blamed everything on former President Joe Biden. And he did it all with a grin on his face. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who could hold both jobs, and his counselor David Zervos are among those being considered to replace Hassett. This news comes amid renewed calls to remove Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, this time over his alleged efforts to shield Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and a suspected Chinese intelligence asset from scrutiny.

Florida Republicans likely thought their anti–diversity, equity, and inclusion law would only target funding and programs for racial minorities and the LGBTQ community. It accidentally ended up getting a St. Patrick’s Day parade canceled too.

The city of Delray Beach announced earlier this week that it is canceling the St. Patrick’s Day parade, alongside the city’s annual Pride celebration, thanks to Florida Senate Bill 1134.

“Following a review of the legislation and its requirements, the City has determined that it is legally prohibited from organizing, funding, or promoting these events in 2027,” a statement from the city read. “Although the city is no longer able to fund these events, it does not prevent private entities from sponsoring these or similar events.”

The language of the new law, which goes into effect on January 1, “establishes restrictions on municipal funding, promotion, and official actions involving activities defined under the legislation as diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Residents of Delray Beach in South Florida are incensed by the news.

“Are they gonna cancel the Christmas parade as well?” one woman opined. “There’s a lot of issues going on here. And it’s weird.”

Following the outrage, Delray Mayor Tom Carney announced on Wednesday that he would attempt to salvage the event, but did not explain how.

“I’ve read your social media posts, received your emails and it is clear that the parade means as much to you in the community as it does to me,” he wrote online. “With that, I’d like to announce that the city is working feverishly with multiple entities to ensure the 2027 St. Patrick’s Day parade goes on as scheduled! I cannot go into details now, but I will bring you the updates as things progress with our negotiations. For those who live, work & play in Delray, we want the Delray Beach St. Patrick’s Day parade to stay!”

These are the natural consequences of reactionary anti-DEI laws—you start with stopping white children from reading Toni Morrison, and before you know it, you’re also banning Irish Americans from having a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in line to be speaker of the House, was heckled by multiple protesters in Denver Friday, calling on him to support the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.

Jeffries was being interviewed by Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov at the What’s Next conference, hosted by the Majority Democrats organization. In the middle of the conversation, Jeffries was called out by people in the crowd, calling him a “fucking liar” and “traitor” and attacking his record as minority leader.

The protesters called on Jeffries for not supporting Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, as well as for his meeting with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law over the summer. “The American people demanded impeachment!” one protester yelled. “Your version of accountability is shaking hands with the Trump family!”

Another told Jeffries that he “better not let a single Democrat vote for BAAJA,” referring to the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, which critics say is a giveaway to Big Oil.

“Why should we trust you when you’re in the pocket of corporations?” the heckler yelled as he was escorted from the room. “When you take money from private equity, you don’t fight for the people.”

Jeffries ignored all the protesters. “Remember, ya’ll, I grew up in Brooklyn,” he said.

Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer each faced calls to step down from their leadership roles following the midterm elections, but only Schumer has a declared challenger, in Senator Chris Van Hollen, right now. No challenger has stepped up to take on Jeffries, even though House Democrats have been bombarded with phone calls and online petitions opposing him for speaker. If Jeffries’s opposition can’t coalesce behind an alternative, he will very likely be the next speaker of the House.