I first wrote about the apparent financial scam that is Truth Social back in 2021, and the company's utilization of something called a SPAC. As the Wall Street Journal described it then:
Also called a blank-check firm, a SPAC is a shell company that lists on a stock exchange with the sole intent of merging with a private firm to take it public. The private company then gets the SPAC’s place in the stock market. SPAC mergers have exploded in popularity in the past year for many startups because they are allowed to make projections about their business. Those aren’t allowed in normal IPOs.
Well, here's what the Washington Post headlined this morning: "Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trump’s Truth Social, ES Family Trust offered $8 million in loans to Trump Media in an unusual deal criticized for conflicts of interest". They go on to say:
An obscure financial entity with connections to a Caribbean-island bank that bills itself as a top payment service for adult entertainment sites would gain a sizable stake in former president Donald Trump’s media company if its merger deal proceeds, according to internal documents a company whistleblower has shared with federal investigators and The Washington Post.
You will be shocked and stunned to learn that the owner of Paxum Bank, Anton Postolnikov, "is the nephew of Alexander Smirnov, a former deputy justice minister in the Russian government, according to a 2016 report by Delovoy Peterburg, a Russian business newspaper. Smirnov became general director of the state-controlled maritime company Rosmorport in 2021, according to published reports."
As of yet, there is no evidence that Smirnov or Smirnova are involved in the Trump Media deal. But the SEC won't approve the deal because they have so little information about the ES Family Trust.
Naturally, Republicans are screaming that the SEC is conducting a "witch hunt," and attacking SEC chair Gary Gensler (who is by reputation a straight arrow) for a "woke agenda."
“The SEC and [SEC Chair Gary] Gensler have been holding this up. The guy clearly has a grudge against us, against Trump,” Nunes said last month on the right-wing news channel Newsmax. “This is a major scandal that’s brewing at the SEC: their willingness to play politics and discriminate against people who like our little company, our start-up company … [and] are being wiped out.”
The Guardian reported back in March:
Federal prosecutors in New York involved in the criminal investigation into Donald Trump’s social media company last year started examining whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Here's the funny part:
Even if Trump Media and its officers face no criminal exposure for the transactions, the optics of borrowing money from potentially unsavory sources through opaque conduits could cloud Trump’s image as he seeks to recapture the White House in 2024.
Ha, ha! As if Trump voters give a damn about optics!
And the Post closes with a story about a guy who basically lost his life savings:
Sas said he was initially excited about the prospect of Truth Social being a “true, non-biased news outlet” and that he hopes “the people running Trump Media, if they see some things not going right, they get in there and fix it.”
He echoed other supporters of Digital World and Trump in blaming a “biased” SEC for stalling the merger. “I’m left holding the bag now, hoping something goes through and it doesn’t collapse,” he said.
Remember, kids: Everything Trump Touches Dies. Or gets indicted. Whichever comes first.
