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Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes is determined to put an end to suspected market manipulation of the company’s stock, which trades under the ticker DJT.
In a Tuesday follow-up letter to the Nasdaq Chair and CEO Adena Friedman, Nunes highlighted his initial April 18 letter, which detailed “serious anomalies surrounding the trading of DJT stock.” He pointed to multiple failures to deliver (FTDs), that have led to DJT consistently appearing on the exchange’s threshold list. He reiterated that the FTDs and anomalies were “strong indicators that DJT may be subject to illegal ‘naked’ short selling.”
Nunes continued, informing Friedman that the “acute anomalies appear to be growing even more severe.” He cited data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the first half of May, noting that it showed “that FTDs for DJT remain shockingly high.” Nunes detailed the extent of the FTDs, writing that they “exceeded one million shares on seven of the ten trading days covered by the data.” Additionally, Nunes wrote that “three of those days—May 2, May 3, and May 6—they exceeded two million shares.”
Nunes pointed out that it was “unsurprising that as of today, DJT still appears on the Nasdaq Reg SHO Threshold List.”
He informed Friedman that he had asked Congress to “encourage the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) to issue Electronic Blue Sheet (“EBS”) requests” for several dates in question “to determine if sophisticated investors—either individuals or financial institutions—are engaging in naked short selling of DJT stock.”
Nunes listed 13 financial firms that should receive requests for an EBS. He asked Nasdaq “to fulsomely cooperate with any and all congressional or other investigations into these firms—including by promptly providing responsive data within Nasdaq’s possession.”
Nunes pointed out that “DJT stock is held by more than 620,000 shareholders, the vast majority of whom are everyday retail investors.” He suggested that a “thorough inquiry” into the matter “would help protect these shareholders from any market manipulations and defend them against possible illegal practices by Wall Street insiders.”
In May, Nunes sent a letter to the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions to request an investigation into the “apparent manipulation” of the DJT stock.
Nunes has written multiple letters to Congress over the last several months, urging swift action. His latest letter to Nasdaq is likely to ruffle feathers again at Citadel. Following his April letter, the financial firm engaged in a back-and-forth with TMTG over the allegations, as reported by CNBC.
