A co-founder of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, said former President Donald Trump pushed another executive to give some of his shares to Melania Trump and retaliated when the request was declined, according to a Washington Post report.
Will Wilkerson, who filed a whistleblower complaint about the company to the SEC in August, made the allegation in a story published by the outlet on Saturday. The Post, which obtained materials submitted with Wilkerson’s complaint, detailed accusations of infighting and potentially illegal activity at the company.
Trump had been given a 90% stake in the company when it was founded, according to the SEC complaint. But Wilkerson told the Post he was with fellow co-founder Andy Litinsky in October 2021 when the latter received a call from Trump. At the time, the company had recently reached a merger deal that would catapult the value of its stock. Wilkerson said the former president asked Litinsky to give some of his shares to Melania Trump.
Wilkerson told the Post that Litinsky demurred and explained the gift would result in a tax bill he would be unable to pay: “Trump didn’t care. He said, ‘Do whatever you need to do.'”
Litinsky, a former contestant on “The Apprentice,” was removed from the company’s board five months later in what Wilkerson believed was retaliation. According to a March email obtained by the Post, Litinsky also believed he had been retaliated against.
“President Trump over the past 2 months has repeatedly demanded that I give my TMTG equity to Melania Trump,” Litinsky wrote, according to a screenshot of the email published by the Post. “As I have informed him several times, I have earned that equity, and also ‘gifting’ equity to Melania Trump would be a taxable event of which I can’t afford to pay the taxes.”
R&I~Smit
Arthur Julien
Article URL : https://www.yahoo.com/news/co-founder-firm-behind-truth-025918838.html