Donald Trump may have removed himself from the board of Truth Social just a few weeks before the Securities and Exchange Commission and a grand jury slapped the social media platform with federal subpoenas. According to a new report, Trump, as well as five other members with ties to his former administration, exited the board ahead of what reportedly appears to be a pending criminal investigation.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, who broke the news, reports that state business records show Trump and the board members were removed on June 8. The SEC subpoena hit on June 27 followed by the Manhattan grand jury subpoena on July 1:
The investigations appear to be related to a proposed merger between Trump’s media company and a blank-check company called Digital World Acquisitions Corp., according to a recent regulatory filing.
Digital World is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Companies such as these raise money to go public with the intent of finding a company to merge with. SPACs are prohibited from finding a partner before going public, but the SEC is investigating potential talks between the two companies that were possibly premature, according to a filing.
Following the Herald-Tribune‘s report, Truth Social fired off a statement denying claims that Trump is no longer on the board.
“Contrary to an ‘exclusive’ fake news story filed by a reporter who is incapable of understanding state business records, Donald Trump remains on the board of Trump Media and Technology Group,” Truth Social wrote in whatever Truth Social is calling its posts. (Truthies? Troots?) “In fact, the reporter acknowledges that Trump’s title is ‘chairman,’ but apparently has no clue what a chairman presides over. Hopefully this helps clarify things.”
(Via Sarasota Herald-Tribune)