Trump's Truth Social broke the law, says former VP — who gave the Feds the evidence: report

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

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Federal investigators have received evidence of crimes from a former executive at the Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs his Truth Social clone of Twitter, according to a bombshell new report by The Washington Post that was published online on Saturday afternoon.

The newspaper reports the company's former senior vice president of operations, Will Wilkerson, is pursuing whistleblower status from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Wilkerson believes Trump forced out company co-founder and former contestant on the TV show "The Apprentice" Andy Litinsky for not handing over shares in the company to his wife, Melania Trump. Wilkerson provided the newspaper with an email from Litinsky saying the former president was retaliating against him.

"The email — one of hundreds of previously unreported company messages, documents, photos and audio recordings that Wilkerson has provided to the SEC in connection with a whistleblower submission — reveals a stunning portrait of the animosity that has built up inside Trump Media since its high-profile debut last year," the newspaper reported.

Shortly before midnight on Friday evening, Trump posted that "Truth Social was Number One on the Internet today!"

"Promoted as the centerpiece of Trump’s post-presidential business ambitions, the company had marketed itself as a budding media empire, with enterprises planned in social media, video streaming, live events and online payments — a powerful rival not just to Twitter but Disney, Google and Amazon," the newspaper reported. "But inside the company, Wilkerson said, those plans gave way to bitter infighting, technical failures and a chaotic jockeying for power among Trump allies that undermined its potential and left some employees crying at their desks."

The newspaper reports Wilkerson filed a whistleblower complaint in August and was fired on Thursday after speaking to Post reporter Drew Harwell.

"Wilkerson is cooperating with investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, said his attorneys, Phil Brewster, Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell," the newspaper reported. "Among the materials he filed with the SEC’s whistleblower office is a detailed, day-to-day computer log compiled by company co-founder Wes Moss, Litinsky and Wilkerson about their daily company-related activities. He also provided to The Post a copy of that log as well as numerous other memos, photographs and videos that chronicled the creation of Trump Media."

Read the full report.