Trump Investigation: Warren Asks SEC To Probe Whether Ex-President Misled Shareholders
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Thursday asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the new social media project of former President Donald Trump misled shareholders ahead of its launch.
In a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, Warren requested that the SEC examine press reports that said Trump secured a merger deal for his new enterprise well ahead of the launch of its special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, on Oct. 20. While singling out the former president’s entity, Warren connected these allegations to previous concerns she had about these companies.
The senator wrote that she has been "concerned for some time about the misaligned incentives" underlying SPAC deals, which she says are structured to exploit retail investors "to the benefit of large institutional investors." In this regard, she called Trump’s SPAC a “textbook” example of engaging in a misleading deal ahead of its launch.
"The reports about DWAC and Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) appear to be a textbook example of a SPAC misleading shareholders and the public about materially important information," wrote Warren in her letter.
Fueling her concerns were press reports by outlets like The New York Times and Axios that said Trump was in talks about a merger deal with Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) as far back as March. In its SEC filings, DWAC maintains that there were no “substantive discussions, directly or indirectly,” with a target company despite talks between CEO Patrick Orlando and Trump months before.
Trump’s SPAC surged by as much as 1,657% with share prices reaching $175 each before falling to $59.99 more recently. Warren highlighted this sharp gyration as "looking suspiciously like a scheme" in which the seller would be the least affected by a drop in share value compared to other investors.
Warren noted the lack of transparency around the corporate structure of the Trump-linked SPAC. She said the company “fails to list any officers, employees, or operations” and the website’s company overview section did not list any executives. However, a press release announcing the deal in October listed Scott St. John as the leader of TMTG+ Corporate Operations.
Warren ended by leaving a list of questions for Gensler that she would like to see answered about whether or not the SEC considers the allegations about Trump'a SPAC to be a violation of any securities laws.
The SEC has not issued any statement about Warren’s letter.
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