Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, USA on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said Friday that the company will “do whatever it takes” to protect the company’s retail investors from possible illegal activity. short selling of that stock.
“If we have to go to Congress or if we have to take legal action, we will do whatever it takes to protect individual investors,” Nunes said in an interview with right-wing news outlet Newsmax. Stated.
Nunes also criticized President Joe Biden for mentioning Trump Media’s stock price in a speech earlier this week.
“Isn’t that weird?” Nunes said.
Speaking in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Biden harshly criticized his opponent in November’s Republican election, Donald Trump, as Trump Media’s stock price plummeted from an opening price of more than $70.
“If the stock price of Trump’s company, Truth Social, falls any further, Trump may fare better under my tax plan,” Biden said.
Trump Media stock trades under the ticker DJT, which rose over the weekend, but has fallen significantly from its peak. This will reduce the paper value of Mr. Trump’s 60% stake, the company’s largest shareholder.
Nunes’ Newsmax comments doubled down on his previous theory that DJT’s stock decline was at least partially due to allegations of illegal market manipulation.
Earlier Friday, Nunes warned the Nasdaq chief executive that the drop in Trump Media’s stock price could be due to “naked” short selling, a trading practice in which sellers bet that the stock’s price would fall. . This involves a trader selling stock that has not been borrowed or arranged to be borrowed.
“As of April 3, 2024, DJT was “by far” the “most expensive U.S. stock to short sell,” according to reports. ,” Nunes said in his letter. He filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, citing CNBC.
Nunes said Trump Media has appeared on the Nasdaq market.Reg SHO threshold list,” This may indicate illegal trading activity.
However, the SEC says on its website that naked short selling “does not necessarily violate federal securities laws” unless done intentionally for the purpose of market manipulation. It also said that stocks on the Reg SHO threshold list are not necessarily a sign of illegal trading activity.
Later that day, Citadel Securities, one of the market companies named in the letter, derided Nunes as “a proverbial loser who tries to blame the decline in stock prices on ‘naked short sellers.'”
In an interview with Newsmax, Nunes appeared to hit back at that comment, saying, “If you think there’s nothing wrong with it, then you’re saying there’s nothing wrong with it. You don’t go out and attack me personally. ”
Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin is a major donor to Republican candidates, including Nunes, who served as a California Republican congressman before taking the helm of Trump Media.
