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Will Wilkerson, co-founder of Trump’s media company, filed an SEC whistleblower complaint in August.
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Wilkerson has laid out several allegations about the company to The Washington Post.
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An email obtained by the Post showed that another co-founder believed Trump was retaliating against him.
A co-founder of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, said former President Donald Trump had urged another executive to give some of his stock to Melania Trump and retaliated when the request was denied. according to a report from the Washington Post.
Will Wilkerson, who filed a whistleblower complaint about the company with the SEC in August, made the claim in a story published by the outlet on Saturday. The Post, which received material filed with Wilkerson’s complaint, detailed allegations of infighting and possible illegal activity at the company.
According to the SEC complaint, Trump had acquired a 90% stake in the company when it was founded. But Wilkerson told the Post that he was with co-founder Andy Litinsky in October 2021 when the latter received a phone call from Trump. At the time, the company had recently reached a merger agreement that would catapult the value of its stock. Wilkerson said the former president had asked Litinsky to give some of his shares to Melania Trump.
Wilkerson told the Post that Litinsky objected, explaining that the gift would result in a tax bill he wouldn’t be able to pay: “Trump didn’t care. He said, ‘Do what you have to do.'”
Litinsky, a former participant in “The Apprentice,” was removed from the company’s board of directors five months later in what Wilkerson said was retaliation. According to a March email obtained by the Post, Litinsky also believed reprisals had been taken against him.
“President Trump has repeatedly demanded that I give my TMTG shares to Melania Trump in the past two months,” Litinsky wrote, according to a screenshot of the email published by the Post. “As I’ve let him know several times, I’ve earned that net worth, and also donating equity to Melania Trump would be a taxable event that I can’t afford to pay the taxes on.”
Litinsky also said Trump had threatened to “blow up the company” if his demands were not met, adding that he believed Trump was now taking “retaliatory action” against him and that he would seek legal help, according to the screenshot of the e-mail. mail.
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. Litinsky did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, sent through his consulting and production company, ZideLitinsky Media.
In a statement to Insider, a Trump Media & Technology Group representative criticized the Post’s coverage and touted Truth Social’s successes.
“As chairman of TMTG, President Trump has hired Devin Nunes as CEO to create a culture of compliance and build a world-class team to lead Truth Social,” the statement said. millions of users, and “performed multiple feature updates.”
“The Washington Post ignored these achievements and published a story full of knowingly false and defamatory statements and other made-up psychodramas,” the statement continued. The statement did not directly comment on specific allegations.
Wilkerson, who served as senior vice president of operations, said he was fired Thursday after speaking with the Post, the outlet reported. Wilkerson’s attorneys did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, but told the Post that he is working with SEC and New York prosecutors investigating Trump Media.
Read the original article on Business Insider
