Overview
- Lauren Chen announced on Christmas Day that she reentered the United States after receiving a new visa and publicly thanked State Department adviser Joe Rittenhouse.
- Rittenhouse, a senior consular affairs adviser and former Trump campaign staffer, confirmed his role in posts on X praising “new leadership” across federal agencies.
- Chen had previously left the country after her work visa was revoked following a September 2024 indictment that detailed alleged covert funding of Tenet Media.
- Federal prosecutors charged RT employees Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva in 2024 with conspiring to violate FARA and to commit money laundering tied to roughly $10 million in payments.
- Court records indicate the case remains open, the alleged Russian operators are not in U.S. custody, and agencies contacted for comment offered little or no public response.