Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Social’s parent company, on Tuesday asked Congress to investigate “potential manipulation” of stock prices.
In a letter to the Republican chairmen of the House Judiciary, Oversight, Financial Services, and Ways and Means committees, Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes wrote that the company’s stock was “naked.” expressed concern about short selling.
“Naked” short selling, where a trader sells a stock without first borrowing the stock, is illegal. Various exchanges, such as the Nasdaq, are required to publish lists of stocks that exhibit unusually high failure rates, or the potential for “naked” short sales.
Nunes noted in the letter that Trump Media stock has been listed on the Nasdaq benchmark list every day since April 2.
The CEO said that Truth Social’s parent company was also the “most expensive single stock to short in the U.S. market” as of April 3, and that it was “a large company that lends out stocks that don’t exist to brokers.” “This suggests that there is an economic incentive.”
“This is particularly problematic given that ‘naked’ short selling often involves sophisticated market participants profiting at the expense of retail investors,” Nunes wrote.
“Overall, we assess that there are strong indicators of illegal manipulation of DJT stock,” he added.
In his letter to Congress, similar to an earlier letter to the Nasdaq chairman and CEO, Nunes said four companies were responsible for more than 60% of the “extraordinary volume of trading in DJT stock.” He emphasized.
One of those companies, Citadel Securities, fired back last week against Trump Media CEO.
“Devin Nunes is the proverbial underdog who tries to blame the decline in stock prices on ‘naked short sellers,'” said a Citadel Securities spokesperson. Statement to CNBC.
Trump Media, meanwhile, criticized the capital markets firm for “bizarrely” targeting its CEO with “unrestricted attacks.”
“Citadel Securities faces fines and charges for an incredibly wide range of crimes, including issues related to naked short selling and routinely defrauding retail investors at the behest of other companies. The company is the world’s largest, world-famous company, and the last one on earth to give everyone a lecture on ‘integrity’,” the company said in a statement.
Trump Media had a strong debut on the stock market late last month, with shares rising to $79 on the first day of trading. However, the company’s stock price has since fallen significantly, hitting a low of about $23 per share last week. As of Wednesday morning, Trump Media stock was hovering around $32.
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