Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, has remained tight-lipped regarding the fate of her investment in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company behind the former president’s social media app, Truth Social. This silence persists even as the share prices of the company, which trades under the ticker DJT, plummet.
Greene and Rep. Larry Bucshon were the only two members of Congress to publicly report buying stock in Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), the company that merged with Trump Media. Greene’s investment, ranging between $15,000 and $50,000 as per her disclosure, was made in October 2021, just days after the merger was announced. However, it appears Greene’s DWAC shares have since disappeared without a trace from her financial disclosures.
A CNBC and NBC News inquiry into the status of her investment was met with a vague response from Greene’s spokesman, who stated, Congresswoman Greene “holds no stocks at this time as reflected in her financial disclosure.” Further requests for clarification on what occurred with her shares went unanswered.
Unlike Greene, Bucshon has confirmed through a spokesman that he still owns stock in the now-merged media company, even as its value nosedives. Bucshon’s DWAC stock, initially valued between $1,000 and $15,000, remains his despite the share price declining by over 50% since it began trading on the Nasdaq.
Speculation abounds over the disappearance of Greene’s investment. Some ethics lawyers propose that if the value of the DWAC stock fell below $1,000, it would no longer require disclosure. Alternatively, Greene may have sold her stock recently, a transaction that need not be reported for up to 45 days. There’s also the possibility that the shares were no longer hers following her 2022 divorce, exempting the transfer from being reported as an asset transaction.
Greene’s cryptic dismissal of inquiries during an interaction with NBC News has only added to the mystery. “This is a waste of time. I think you can read my reports and see what I own,” she said, evading direct answers.
The question of Greene’s missing Trump Media stock accentuates the broader issue of lawmakers’ stock trades. Under the STOCK Act, trades must be reported within 45 days, and while Congress members are not barred from trading or holding stocks, there is an ongoing debate whether they should be allowed to engage in stock trading at all, given their positions. Legislation to ban such trades has stalled, leaving this area of congressional ethics in limbo.
As it stands, the exact details of what happened to Greene’s Trump Media stock remain concealed, prompting ethics experts like Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer, to demand transparency. “She’s got to explain what the heck happened,” Painter asserts, encapsulating the air of uncertainty that hovers over this unexplained stock disappearance.
Relevant articles:
– Marjorie Taylor Greene won’t say what happened to her Trump Media stock
– When It Comes To Truth Social, Republicans In Congress Aren’t Buying What Trump’s Selling, Forbes, Sun, 07 Apr 2024 10:30:00 GMT
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