To be fair, I’ve not investigated very much:
The former US president stands to gain billions of dollars – his stake is currently valued at about $4bn – from the merger between Trump Media and Technology Group and the blank-check company Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which took the parent company of Truth Social public.
But Trump Media almost did not make it to the merger after regulators opened a securities investigation into the merger in 2021 and caused the company to burn through cash at an extraordinary rate as it waited to get the green light for its stock market debut.
Why was there this extra investigation? SPACs are a pretty simple idea, what made the authorities investigate this one so much?
SPACs are a pretty simple idea, what made the authorities investigate this one so much?
It is a wonder. I suspect someone from Nigeria or Indonesia might have a good take on how this sort of thing works.
Because a very rich man who is active in politics and relatively popular is extremely dangerous to the Establishment of the Authorities, that bastion of Old Families and Old Money, and their sycophants and hangers-on….
Trump could, in theory, swing his own bat financially when it comes to getting elected.
Won’t do it for many reasons, but he could.
Which makes him extremely dangerous because he can tell the Usual Suspects in the Election/Donation scene to Bugg’rOrrf. He’s hard to get their hooks in.
So the Establishment will try everything to keep him from getting richer and more dangerous.
Which is what we’ve witnessed over the past years in an endless parade of widely published Lawfare on….shall we say they’ve even stopped pretending about it all not being quite Political?
Sort of the same is still happening to a certain entrepeneur dabbling in electric cars, social media, and spaceships.
But he’s still relatively safe because he likes to clown around, and has, as yet, not expressed any interest in actual Office.
Wait for the Screaming when he does….
I tend to think Elon would be a v good President. But, alas, he’s not native born…..
Tim @ 7.05, that fact didn’t stop Obama………
Putting the financial implications aside the inevitable dog-whistle media furore has only further elevated public awareness of the platform.
Imagine if a large number of those who initially signed up just because it was new now start using it regularly. With Musk ensuring the independence of Twitter/X the establishment will have an infinitely harder time controlling the narrative from now on.
https://www.npr.org/2021/01/08/954760928/twitter-bans-president-trump-citing-risk-of-further-incitement-of-violence
Tim,
This might be the most naive thing you’ve ever written, unless you were being sarcastic.
Meanwhile, keep an eye on Mayor of NYC Eric Adams. We he fall into line and be absolved, or will he have to be punished regardless?
/s
The guardian headline hints at Russian involvement. Who doesn’t feel a frisson of excitement?
Addolff, your cynicism betrays the fact that you are in fact the preserved entity Mr Hilter, kept alive with Elvis for company by the remnants of that far-right organisation known as the National Socia…
Oh. wait! Bugger…
“But, alas, he’s not native born…..” Irrelevant; it doesn’t matter where he was born. What matters is that he wasn’t born a US citizen.
Whereas, though I’d like to know what Obama is hiding about his birth I think it’s highly unlikely to be that he was born in Kenya.
@Tim Elon could, should he wish to, follow the Schwarzenegger Route…
Imagine what he could do with ….say… California… 😉
Apologies Tim, should have been obvious
@ Grikath: “Wait for the Screaming when he does….”
I’d hate to see what would they’d do to him if he actually came out and backed a candidate…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/jan/30/elon-musk-tesla-pay-package-too-much-judge-rules
“So the Establishment will try everything to keep him from getting richer and more dangerous”
And every one of their desperate efforts keep backfiring, and making The Donald even more popular!
Why was there this extra investigation? SPACs are a pretty simple idea, what made the authorities investigate this one so much?
It’s all about democracy and the rule of law.
Democracy and the rule of law.
“Democracy and the rule of law,” they shrieked, as they shrank down into a corn cob.
But seriously, Current Year USA is a bizarre mix of Caligula’s Rome and a homosexual conga line at Keith Vaz’s place. They don’t want to be your friend, they don’t want world peace or free markets or stability and prosperity. They just want to fuck you in the ass, as they’re doing to their own people.
Why are we “allies” with these vampires, again? Our interests would be better served by regime change in DC, and hopefully a peaceful breakup of the USSA. Then we should ally with the noble Confederates again.
I wish I was in Dixie, but Rocco beat me to it.
Dm – Whereas, though I’d like to know what Obama is hiding about his birth I think it’s highly unlikely to be that he was born in Kenya.
I never cared enough about the Obama birther stuff to pay it much attention, it was enough for me to notice that he was another Tony Blair character who appeared out of nowhere and mysteriously had the backing of Everybody Who Matters.
But I reckon he’s probably not trying to hide a Kenyan nativity. I think Steve Sailor’s theory is that he was trying to hide applying for college as an “African immigrant”, to give him a better chance of acceptance. Seems reasonable, because Obama is lazy and glib so he probably wasn’t much of a scholar.
Mind you, compared to Senile Joe, the racebending homoflexible starfucker is a genius.
Trump is a legitimate stable genius tho. He’s probably the highest IQ US president since Nixon. Bill Clinton also seems like the kind of guy who would come out of a meeting wearing your watch.
@Jonathan Yes, I know…
It’s funny how they never did that with say… Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates, or any of the others using or having used the exact same construction…
Oh wait… They support who again? And do Charity Pleasing unto the Eye of Nuggan?
“But that’s different!!” they scream in unison….
Steve said:
LTrump is … probably the highest IQ US president since Nixon”
True. But sadly that’s not difficult.
There’s no mystery. The DWAC was investigated over suspicions that it had an illegal secret agreement with TMTG before it floated in September 2021, and over insider trading related to that. Two people have recently pleaded guilty to the insider trading.
Trump is … probably the highest IQ US president since Nixon”
That’s absurd. He’s deployed lawyers to keep his college grades secret. And he displays the analytical reasoning prowess of my dead cat.
Donald Trump ranks in the bottom 1% of presidents enriching themselves while in office. If you include other swamp creatures he’d rank in the bottom 0.1%.
Fortunately a presidents job is to protect and enrich the US population and that’s something he proved rather good at although you’d be pressed to find many media outlets or commentators willing to acknowledge it.
My goodness! I think a Democrat strolled by. Don’t see many of them in these parts. Lost?
>Why was there this extra investigation? SPACs are a pretty simple idea, what made the authorities investigate this one so much?
You know why.
We’re about a handspan away from being a banana republic over here. Trump broke so many people.
BiS
We also had that New York lawyer chappie who briefly graced us with his wisdom before fecking off.
I think they’re on to us.
Ah, yes, my oldest and dearest friend you mean…..
There’s a certain smell of desperation in people trying to pretend that Trump’s rather.. inventive financial arrangements won’t legitimately gather a certain amount of scrutiny. Sure, it’s easy to claim persecution (lord knows Trump does at every opportunity, poor darling), but it does turn out that SPACs are quite tightly regulated, particularly after a number of recent abuses of the system. It takes more than faux naiveite to ignore that.
And in fact, the SEC did find against Digital world – this was not a specious claim: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-135#:~:text=The%20SEC's%20order%20finds%20that,it%20closes%20a%20merger%20transaction.
It might also be worth pointing out that “the SEC made us burn cash” is the “dog ate my homework” level of financial excuses.
I’ve been thinking about the coming US Presidential election. Lets assume the 2020 one was fixed by the Dems, or at least they managed to garner enough dodgy votes to push their cadaverous candidate over the line. In 2020 it was at least feasible for Biden to win. The polls were indicating he was ahead, or at least level. OK polls are biased to the Left usually anyway, and there were lots of ‘questionable’ issues, but Biden winning wasn’t a Foinavon type event.
Fast forward to 2024, and Trump is leading on all the polls, shy Trump voters not withstanding. All the comparable data sets from 2020 to date show all the different age and racial groups have moved significantly to Trump. Hispanics are now close to 50/50 Rep/Dem, Blacks 20% for Trump, which hasn’t happened for 50 years. If the polls are to be believed (I know) Trump is on for a landslide win.
So in order to steal the 2024 election the Democrats would have to do something that will stand out like a sore thumb. Its one thing to push your candidate over the line in a close-ish fight, its another to get the bloke on a stretcher to be declared the winner of the bout while his opponent is still on his feet and raring to go. So will they just do it anyway, and basically say ‘What you going to do about it, punk?’
CT WK – That’s absurd. He’s deployed lawyers to keep his college grades secret. And he displays the analytical reasoning prowess of my dead cat.
College grades mean little. Bill Gates dropped out. Socrates didn’t even have a degree. Some people are brilliant (in some ways) but lazy at yooni.
The guy’s a self made billionaire in one of the toughest, most shark infested industries on the planet (New York real estate).
It may comfort his detractors to believe the incredibly wealthy global celebrity president who had a string of lucrative business successes (and failures, like many serial entrepreneurs) before defying the entire political and media establishment and all the bookies to win the presidency of the United States – and still gets more pussy than you do – is a maroon.
But dopes don’t tend to fly in private jets or have cameos in Home Alone 2, is my observation. Stupid people can’t afford solid gold toilets, is what I’m saying.
Also, his foreign policy record as president was impressive. He put real impetus into getting other Middle East countries to normalise relations with Israel (sadly, recent events may have set those achievements back) and was genuinely respected by key allies like the Saudis. Biden is not respected by the Saudis, who have also announced the beginning of the end of the petrodollar. A strategic L for the United States of historical proportions, so of course it has received less scrutiny than Kate Middleton’s family pics.
Under the Trump presidency, the US enjoyed prosperity, rising opportunities for young people and ethnic minorities, and no new wars. Remember those days of optimism, before it all got mysteriously strangulated by an equally mysteriously coordinated international conspiracy to shut down the economy and put people under house arrest? Good times.
We should elect more dead cats.
AndyT – There’s a certain smell of desperation in people trying to pretend that Trump’s
Persecution by agencies of the government controlled by his political enemies, who have also invented new laws specifically in order to prosecute him for “crimes” is on the level (FTFY)
It’s pretending this is all normal, and not banana republic levels of in-your-face corruption that’s incredible. Tankie tier levels of delusion and mental gymnastics.
No, it’s not normal for someone who “loses” an election to then face infinity attempts by multiple layers of state and federal government to then destroy his businesses, seize his assets, and imprison him and his family and all of his associates. Despite said “losing” candidate having never faced any such legal troubles in decades past of high profile business ventures before committing the sin of winning an election. This is not normal, outside of shithole countries in Latin America, Africa, and the USA, that is.
This is like if William Hague was facing the death penalty in 2000 in advance of the general election. Peter Mandelson would be involved, no doubt. Tbh, fuck Hague.
RichT – Steve said:
LTrump is … probably the highest IQ US president since Nixon”
True. But sadly that’s not difficult
I wish we’d stop looking down on Yank pols, just because they didn’t come from the Oxford debating society and can’t talk as good as wot our wankers can tho.
Bill Clinton was obviously a very intelligent man. Completely wasted on a man of zero integrity and the worst taste in pussy, but still. Bill Clinton took a gift for patter, and smooth talked his way into being a man who owns hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s not dumb. It’s naked corruption, but it ain’t stupid.
Dubya was easily characterised as dumb because of his verbal amusings, but that’s because he stopped being an alcoholic at 40. Verbal acuity isn’t always the same as mental. The guy wasn’t as dumb as he looked, he mopped the floor with much “smarter” political opponents and was respected by foreign presidents.
Nixon was a brilliant man, easily one of the most intellectually gifted world leaders of the post-war era. (If only Enoch Powell had become Prime Minister….) That’s why he was so unhappy, I think. Very highly intelligent men are often melancholic.
So in order to steal the 2024 election the Democrats would have to do something that will stand out like a sore thumb
How much of a sore thumb do you need in view of the bizarre and statistically near impossible early morning swings in key states last time round?
In 2020 around 65 million postal ballots were cast. Heaven (and Dominion) only knows how many tallied votes that resulted in. This November a couple of million more spread judiciously between the likes of Philadelphia, Madison, Atlanta and Detroit, deep blue cities in otherwise red states, could do the trick again.
Finally don’t ignore the hundreds of thousands of undocumented entering every month. They may not know they’ve been registered let alone voting in November but one way or another a lot of them will be.
“How much of a sore thumb do you need in view of the bizarre and statistically near impossible early morning swings in key states last time round?”
Thats my point. Its one thing to do manipulation that stands out in statistical analysis and its another to do it in a manner that makes even the average man in the street scratch his head and think ‘That don’t make sense’.
There was nothing strange about the fact that Biden did better in the early ballots, which were counted later. And very thorough investigations have turned up nothing significant amiss. The fact is that Biden appealed to a lot more voters than Trump.
Jim, I’m sure we are on the same page. Probably even the same paragraph.
I have US friends and relatives from both sides of the chasm-like political divide. One half are convinced 2020 was fraudulent and do a great deal of head scratching about how “they” got away with it. The other is fervently convinced that overall it was above board , that 6/1 was a genuine insurrection and are willing to end decade-long friendships rather than concede an inch.
However while one half have the unwavering support of the media, law enforcement and the judiciary the other half look over their shoulders a lot and have justifiable concerns about their and their families wellbeing (and obviously job security) should they speak their minds.
Apologies for stating the obvious BTW but the divide is so much more absolute than anything we see over here.
The problem which emerged in 2020 is that there was no way to contest the result. No arbitrator, no neutral authority. And there isn’t going to be because if there was then no election result would go uncontested. The only solution is to remove or diminish the ways to cheat. Clean voter rolls. Proper supervision. No early votes, no postal ballots except by individual application with signature check, voter id, auditable paper trails and so on. But strangely at least one party and part of the other sees no reason to do it.