Washington Times: Elizabeth Warren sicced SEC on Trump’s social media start-up deal
December 6, 2021
Former President Donald Trump’s social media startup is in Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s crosshairs.
The Massachusetts Democrat urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the Trump Media & Technology Group’s merger agreement with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC.
Ms. Warren is no fan of SPACs, having begun her own investigation in September into SPACs’ potentially exploitative actions, and she wrote to SEC chair Gary Gensler last month requesting that he investigate the Trump Media & Technology Group merger agreement with a SPAC. In the letter, she raised concerns that Mr. Trump’s group “may have committed securities violations by holding private and undisclosed discussions about the merger” while excluding that info from public documentation.
“I have frequently spoken about the need to hold public officials accountable for lawbreaking and ethics violations. This includes the former president, who is not above the law,” Ms. Warren wrote in the letter. “The reports that DWAC may have violated securities laws and harmed investors during its acquisition of Trump Media and Technology Group are deeply troubling and provide an opportunity for the SEC to follow through on its commitment to investigate wrongdoing and fraud in the SPAC space.”
She asked the SEC to inform her by Nov. 29 about whether the agency was investigating Mr. Trump’s group. The SEC declined to comment when asked on Friday about Ms. Warren’s letter.
Ms. Warren’s office did not respond to a request for comment by The Washington Times.
Some conservatives fear Ms. Warren’s actions are an attempt to kill conservative alternatives to big tech companies in the crib before they have a chance to compete.
“The last thing we need to do is have Trump-deranged politicians like Elizabeth Warren send federal regulators on political fishing expeditions that would have the effect of crushing start-up competitors to the trillion-dollar big tech monopolists — Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple — that are shuttering small businesses and canceling conservatives,” said Mike Davis, founder of the conservative Internet Accountability Project.
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