The person responsible was a tall, bearded, bearded veteran of the Russian state-supported news, Mikhail Solodovnikov, who passed by Misha. He ran the company through T&R Productions, a public company, which, in an application for the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 2017 to the Department of Justice, stated that he was the sole member and general manager and that he assumed duties as general manager and head of the editorial board. He added that he “respectfully disagrees that FARA should apply” to RT America.
In an email on Saturday, Solodovnikov said he was privileged to have “legendary” presenters and “dozens of young and ambitious intellectuals and journalists”, pointing the finger at mainstream US media for hypocrisy. “It’s clear to see that most of the US media establishment is celebrating an act of brutal censorship that happened to us on their watch,” he said.
In the early days of the network, he recruited budding online personalities. In 2012, Abby Martin, a vocal critic of the mainstream media and a skeptic of the September 11 attacks, started the show “Breaking the Set”; in the opening credits, she brandished a sledgehammer at a television broadcasting clips of cable news stars such as CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
In 2013, Ms. Martin invited Tyrel Ventura, the son of Jesse Ventura, the former pro wrestler and governor of Minnesota’s Reform Party, as a guest on her show. He had a YouTube talk show, in which he often spoke out against war and was skeptical of the mainstream media. After his guest appearance, he said, Mr. Solodovnikov said he liked what he heard. He also told Mr. Ventura, who is thin with a clean-shaven head, that he looked good in front of the TV, Mr. Ventura said.
Mr. Ventura was soon recruited to his online show “Watching the Hawks”, hosted with Mr. Stone, to RT America.
Around the same time, Mr. Solodovnikov got a huge breakthrough. In May 2013, RT America signed a deal with Larry King’s Ora TV to host shows from Mr. King and eventually other personalities, including William Shatner and Dennis Miller. Some programs would be made from RT America’s Washington office. Suddenly, the network had household names on its roster. Ora Media CEO John Dickey declined to disclose the value of the contract.
Soon, RT America faced a major public test. In February 2014, Russia invaded and soon annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, then stepped up its aggression and backed separatists attacking Ukrainian forces in the country’s Donbas region.
