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+--- Thread: Latest on Trumpian/Republican grift (/showthread.php?tid=286128)
Latest on Trumpian/Republican grift - pdq - 04-03-2024
Just kinda standard stuff these days.
Item 1: Florida men get nailed for insider trading related to Truth Social
The Shvartsmans and Garelick were indicted last June on securities fraud and conspiracy charges.
They are accused of buying up DWAC stock based on nonpublic information that the shell company was considering a possible merger with Trump’s social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the Truth Social app.
When DWAC announced that it planned to merge with Trump Media in October, the company’s stock soared from around $10 a share to close at $94 a share on Oct. 24, 2021.
On the heels of the merger announcement, Garelick and the Shvartsmans allegedly sold their newly valuable shares for a net profit of $22 million, according to prosecutors.
In February of this year, Michael Shvartsman was charged in a superseding indictment that added a money laundering count to the original charges against him and the other two men.
Shvartsman tried to hide the money with financial shenanigans, then bought a $15M yacht with the money. (!)
They’re now negotiating guilty pleas, because the Feds have them dead to rights. Don’t expect jail, tho - they’re too rich to serve time.
BTW, what do you call it when you have an IPO like DJT, and then a week later DJT reveals it actually lost $50M on $4M of revenue last year? Some folks think that’s called fraud.
Item 2: iHeartMedia funnels big bux to Ted Cruz PAC
In 2022, iHeartMedia acquired “Verdict With Ted Cruz”, a podcast the Texas Republican launched in 2020 to discuss Trump's first impeachment. Cruz's team has said he isn't paid by iHeartMedia for hosting duties.
…because that would be impermissible under Senate rules. But no matter; more than one way to skin a cat:
Rachel Nelson, who serves as iHeartMedia's vice-president of public relations, told the newspaper that the company's payments to Truth and Courage PAC are "associated with those advertising sales" for his podcast.
Okayyyy…seems possibly reasonable- how much are we talking about?
Data from the Federal Election Commission shows iHeartMedia has donated a total of $630,850 to Truth and Courage PAC since March 2023, constituting around a third of its revenue since the beginning of that year.
Not its profits; it’s total revenue. (The article doesn’t say if iHeartMedia actually makes any money.) But it sure sends a lot of cash to one guy’s PAC.
Yeah, but that’s not illegal these post-Citizens United days, is it?
Actually (believe it or not), it is:
Shanna Ports, a senior legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center…argued Cruz could have acted illegally if he solicited donations of over $5,000 to his PAC, which federal officeholders are prohibited from doing under federal law.
But I’m sure iHeartMedia just spontaneously sent a third of all money that passed through its hands to Ted Cruz’s PAC for his podcast (which isn’t even mentioned on iHeartMedia’s landing webpage, which promotes some 30+ other podcasts).
:RollingEyesSmiley5:
Re: Latest on Trumpian/Republican grift - wurm - 04-03-2024
None of these laws (or any laws, apparently) will matter depending on the outcome of the election.
Yes, I'm getting to that point.
Re: Latest on Trumpian/Republican grift - maco - 04-03-2024
Two investors in Trump Media insider trading case plead guilty
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/03/business/trump-truth-social-insider-trading/index.html
Re: Latest on Trumpian/Republican grift - maco - 04-03-2024
Exclusive: Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/03/trump-media-es-family-trust-2022-loans?ref=upstract.com
Re: Latest on Trumpian/Republican grift - pdq - 04-03-2024
maco wrote:
Two investors in Trump Media insider trading case plead guilty
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/03/business/trump-truth-social-insider-trading/index.html
Each of the brothers pleaded guilty in New York to one count of securities fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to federal prosecutors.
My guess is that if they get any prison time at all, it’ll be less than a year in some minimum-security Club Fed.
I hope I’m wrong.