[7][8] The Krassenstein brothers gained prominence as activists on Twitter, particularly within the "Resistance" movement, by consistently challenging the presidency of Donald Trump.
[10] The brothers regularly engaged in public debates with political figures and influencers, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on contentious topics such as transgender rights, critical race theory, and gun control.
[11][12][13] In 2018, Brian raised $12,083 for the legal defense fund of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe by promoting a GoFundMe campaign on Twitter.
"I just want to take a minute to thank each and every member of the DOJ and FBI who have come under attack by our President," Brian tweeted, having raised more money for McCabe's defense than any other individual social media user.
[3] Elon Musk began following the Krassensteins on X (formerly Twitter) and regularly engaged with them in political discussions on various topics, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and George Soros.
During one interaction, Ed Krassenstein baited Musk into revealing his weight amid discussions about a potential cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg.
In August 2017, Homeland Security Special Agent Michael Adams of the United States Department of Justice alleged that these websites were devoted to the promotion of high-yield investment programs (HYIPs).
[30] The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) raided the Krassenstein brothers' homes and web site operations in 2017, pulling TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup offline on or around August 22.
In a civil asset forfeiture complaint, the DOJ accused the Krassensteins of obtaining property that was considered to be "traceable to proceeds of wire fraud."
[1][30][32] Adams claimed that the Krassensteins were paid huge sums of money by individuals engaged in illegal activities, and that they knew that the funds had been criminally derived.
He told The Daily Beast that he and his brother were not promoting anything and that the purpose of their websites was "to help people find out which online business opportunities were legitimate and which were not.
[43][44] Before the book was published, critics found fault with its depictions of Mueller, as a shirtless superhero, and of a woman resembling Elizabeth Warren being carried in a burlap sack.
[51][52] In November 2019, the Krassensteins published an article based on a months-long investigation into an alleged smear campaign directed at Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
[53] The Krassensteins' report stated that the operation was being perpetrated by two different countries—the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia—as well as multiple prominent GOP figures.
[54] In 2020, the Krassensteins used a Medium blog to publish a series of articles about Tara Reade, who had made sexual assault allegations against then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
[58] The Krassensteins played themselves in several episodes of a A Fowl American, an animated series of web shorts by Greg Cipes and Kevin Coulston.
[60][61] In January 2024, the Krassensteins participated in a live debate, hosted by ZeroHedge, alongside Destiny, where they faced off against right-wing commentators Alex Jones and Glenn Greenwald.