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Are U.S. government entities engaged in a concerted effort to help Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election? That seems like a reasonable question after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took steps recently to prop up Trump's flagging finances in the wake of his failure to obtain a bond in the New York business-fraud case.
And that comes on the heels of two dubious U.S. Supreme Court decisions -- one on Trump's ballot access case (in which his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection clearly disqualify him from appearing on the ballot or holding any public office again, federal or state) and the other on Tump's absolute presidential immunity case -- a claim that it is so outlandish there is no support for it in any provision of federal law.
How did the SEC give Trump a boost? Donald Watkins, a longtime Alabama attorney and nationally recognized criminal-defense expert explains in a post titled "Securities and Exchange Commission Okays Donald Trump's 58 to 64% Ownership of a Publicly Traded Social Media Company, Despite Court Findings of Business Fraud." Watkins writes:
On February 16, 2024, a New York state court found that Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Eric Trump schemed for years to defraud banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals. The court entered a $454 million civil fraud judgment against Trump and his sons, who are appealing this ruling.
The day before the much-anticipated court ruling in Donald Trump's case, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a merger of Trump Media and Technology Group with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded blank-check acquisition company. Trump's media company owns Truth Social, which he founded after he was banned from Twitter (now known as X) in 2021.
Does the merger, which Digital World shareholders are to vote on Friday (3/22/24, make sense? No, it does not, and Watkins provides details:
Trump Media's merger deal with Digital World was valued in February at an estimated $10 billion. This valuation was purely speculative.
Digital World’s shareholders are scheduled to vote on the merger deal on Friday, March 22, 2024.
Since its founding in 2021, Truth Social has sustained massive financial losses and a limited base of users (estimated 607,000 monthly users as of July 2023). Trump has 6.61 million followers on Truth Social. Digital World says Truth Social has so far had 8.9 million signups.
If the merger goes through, it will mark a first in SEC history, Watkins reports:
The Commission's approval of the merger occurred despite Donald Trump's documented history of filing business bankruptcies – six to be exact -- and stiffing creditors.
The merger was approved while Donald Trump is awaiting state and federal criminal trials in New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Miami on 88 felony charges
Donald Trump, Jr., who was also found liable of business fraud in the New York civil case, is slated to join the board of directors of the merged entity.
Despite all of these red flags, Donald Trump will own between 58.1% and 69.4% of the combined company.
If Digital World’s shareholders approve the merger deal, Trump will become the first person in the history of the Securities and Exchange Commission to own a majority interest in a publicly traded company AFTER he was: (a) convicted of repeated acts of civil business fraud in court, (b) indicted by state and federal authorities on 88 felony charges, and (c) involved in six business bankruptcies.
Of course, we have this additional red flag: Just this week, Trump gave notice to a New York court that he had failed to secure a bond of $464 million to cover his liabilities in a business-fraud case. According to court documents, more than 30 companies rejected Trump's requests to cover the bond. Despite all of those glaring red flags, the SEC was willing to say, "Hey, let's help the guy out."
The SEC is supposed to be a watchdog agency, but apparently its teeth have rotted out -- at least when it comes to chicanery that might help boost Donald Trump. Watkins writes:
The Securities and Exchange Commission is supposed to be the watchdog agency that protects the investing public from fraudsters. It rarely performs this function. Instead, the Commission has become a cleansing agent for crooked Wall Street banks, major utilities like the Southern Company, and soiled businessmen like Donald Trump.
With the Trump Media-Digital World merger deal, the Commission found a pathway to hold its nose and look past Donald Trump’s adjudicated business fraud, four criminal indictments, and six corporate bankruptcies so that Trump and his son could (a) seize control of a public social media company and (b) save Truth Social from bankruptcy.
No one should be surprised that the SEC has become toothless, Watkins writes:
The Securities and Exchange Commission is as crooked as the Trumps. No other explanation makes sense for its approval of the Trump Media-Digital World merger deal.
Digital World’s share priceclosed at $35.57 on Monday -- the same day Trump's lawyers announced that he was unable to post a $464 million appeal bond in his New York civil fraud case. The share price is down from $50.49 in February when the Commission approved the merger.
We now know the highly touted Trump Media-Digital World stock is virtually worthless since it does not provide Donald Trump with the amount of liquidity he needs to post a $464 million appeal bond in his civil fraud case.
Watkins also has been critical of the U.S. Supreme Court, especially in regards to Trump's absolute immunity claim. From a post Watkins wrote in early February:
Today, a federal court of appeals in Washington confirmed for the public what most competent lawyers knew all along – there is no such thing in U.S. law as presidential immunity for criminal acts.
None of the 46 U.S. presidents has ever enjoyed such immunity.
Presidential immunity for criminal acts is not authorized in the U.S. Constitution. It is not authorized in any federal statute. It is not authorized in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Such an immunity claim is merely a figment of Donald Trump’s imagination. This was a “bullshit” legal argument when it was first asserted by Trump’s lawyers.
We are NOT running a monarchy in America. There is no King, Queen, or Emperor, who is above in law.
As for the SEC-fueled merger, Watkins reaches this grim conclusion:
From the public's standpoint, the Commission's approval of the merger has facilitated the nightmare scenario of stacking fraud on top of fraud.
If the deal does not benefit the public, who does it benefit? As is the case with the recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings (see here and here), it apparently is designed to help one man -- Donald Trump.
