Trump Media & Technology Group shares jumped more than 9% Wednesday after CEO Devin Nunes sent a letter to allies on Capitol Hill asking them to investigate potential manipulation of the company’s stock, reported CNBC.
Nunes in a letter to lawmakers Tuesday suggested there were “strong indications of unlawful manipulation of DJT stock” and asked them to investigate “whether any laws including RICO statutes and tax evasion laws were violated, so that the perpetrators of any illegal activity can be held to account.”
He said “a thorough and expeditious investigation” of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent of former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social media platform, should include collecting trading data from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s massive trading database known as the Consolidated Audit Trail, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the clearinghouse for U.S. stock trades.
The letter was addressed to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.; Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo.; and Oversight and Reform Chair James Comer, R-Ky.
Trump Media went public last month and has experienced many volatile sessions since. It’s fallen about 41% in April after rising nearly 10% last week.
Nunes last week sent a letter to Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman asking her to prevent illegal short-selling and to ensure trading firms disclose their short positions.
A spokesman for Citadel Securities, one of the market makes named in Nunes’ letter, in a statement said: “Devin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame ‘naked short selling’ for his falling stock price.
“Nunes is exactly the type of person Donald Trump would have fired on Apprentice. If he worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him, as ability and integrity are at the center of everything we do.”
In “naked” short-selling, traders sell a short share without borrowing the stock to start, which is considered risky and illegal.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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