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The investigation by federal prosecutors and securities regulators right into a proposed merger between a cash-rich clean verify firm and former President Donald J. Trump’s social media firm has gotten nearer to Mr. Trump’s finish of the deal.
Federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas on Trump Media & Know-how Group and “sure present and former TMTG personnel,” in keeping with a regulatory submitting on Friday by Digital World Acquisition Corp., the particular function acquisition firm that has a tentative deal to merge with Trump Media.
Grand jury subpoenas are usually issued in reference to a possible prison investigation. The submitting mentioned the Securities and Alternate Fee additionally served a subpoena on Trump Media this week.
The disclosure comes simply days after Digital World revealed that it, too, had obtained a grand jury subpoena from federal prosecutors in Manhattan together with related subpoenas served on its board of administrators.
The grand jury subpoenas seem associated to earlier S.E.C. subpoenas on Digital World that had sought communications regarding potential merger talks with representatives of Trump Media earlier than Digital World’s preliminary public providing in September 2021.
The regulatory submitting on Friday mentioned the grand jury subpoenas served on Trump Media had been “in search of a subset of the identical or related paperwork demanded in subpoenas to Digital World and its administrators.”
The increasing investigation threatens to delay the completion of the merger, which would supply Mr. Trump’s firm and its social media platform, Reality Social, with as much as $1.3 billion in capital, along with a inventory market itemizing.
The S.E.C. investigation has centered on whether or not there have been critical discussions between the management of Digital World and Trump Media earlier than the particular function acquisition firm, or SPAC, went public in September and why these talks weren’t disclosed in regulatory filings. SPACs, which elevate cash to go public within the hopes of discovering a merger candidate, are usually not alleged to have an acquisition goal in thoughts after they elevate cash from traders.
Representatives for Trump Media didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The corporate, based mostly in Sarasota, Fla., is led by Devin Nunes, the previous Republican congressman who turned chief government officer earlier this yr. Mr. Trump, who has a licensing cope with the corporate, is chairman.
It’s unclear which present and former personnel at Trump Media obtained subpoenas.
Reality Social, a Twitter-like platform, stays the first product of the corporate. Mr. Trump, over the previous few months, has develop into a frequent poster on his social media platform.
This week, he used the platform repeatedly to criticize the testimony of a former White Home aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, earlier than the Jan. 6 committee.
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
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Supply- nytimes