Trump 58: Bringing Covfefe to a Battle of Wits With The FBI

[Dandruff]

5 hours ago, Xan said:

Big Dummy is now suing CNN for "fake news".  He says that they defamed his character, called him a racist, and ignored the good things he did.  He wants $475 million.

If I was CNN, I'd welcome it.  Discovery would be a hoot.

I would think that CNN and many, many others could take offense/action re. the fake news accusation.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump startup investors: Give us a better deal or we'll walk"

Quote

Big investors are starting to eye the exits on the $1.3 billion bid to take former President Donald Trump’s new social media startup public.

The hedge funds, trading firms and other major backers are questioning whether the financial riches that first attracted them to the transaction are still strong enough to hold their interest in a deal fraught with troubles, according to four investors who asked not to be named. Negotiations have been ongoing as some investors seek bigger potential profits in exchange for following through on commitments to put hundreds of millions of dollars into the venture, which planned a public stock exchange listing through a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

There are no guarantees investors will get what they are pushing for as little headway has been made ahead of a Monday deadline.

The group of more than three dozen investors who had planned to put $1 billion into the company have begun to waver as bad news keeps piling up around the deal, including a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, a lawsuit by a scorned business partner against the company taking Trump’s venture public and reports that the Trump social network at the heart of the planned operation is struggling to pay its bills. Already, investors who had promised $138 million in capital have pulled out, with the SEC yet to OK the public offering nearly a year after its announcement.

“This deal has taken more left turns than a doorknob,” said Kristi Marvin, a former investment banker who runs data and research company SPACInsider. “Now, it’s just got so much hair on it.”

At stake for Trump and his startup — the company behind conservative social media app Truth Social — is hundreds of millions of dollars, marking the latest blow to the former president’s business empire since he left office. New York in September filed a sweeping lawsuit against Trump and his family for alleged fraud at the Trump Organization. While the conduct of his latest startup and its partners are in the spotlight, the type of corporate vehicle for taking the company public — a SPAC — has also broadly soured in the eyes of investors after a boom over the last few years.

Eleven months ago, Trump Media & Technology Group unveiled plans to merge with a company called Digital World Acquisition Corp. in a SPAC deal. The transaction was supposed to revive the Trump empire, starting with the development of Truth Social.

SPACs are effectively skeleton companies that trade on stock exchanges. With no operations or products, the SPAC uses the funds raised in the company’s initial public offering to go out and acquire a private entity that will take over its listing once the deal closes. For the private company, a SPAC merger offers a faster and easier alternative to the IPO, executives say. The SPAC creators, in return, typically benefit from a rich payday through the massive chunks of stock that they hold.

The SPAC market had already gone through a boom and bust when Digital World and Trump Media’s deal became public last October. Regulatory pressures, a shifting economy and market fatigue had squashed — and continue to weigh down — the SPAC fervor. But investors still piled in.

Digital World’s stock quickly became a favorite among individual investors when the deal went live. Soon, the shares were skyrocketing in movements that closely mirrored the ones seen in meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment months earlier. Before the deal was announced, the stock was trading at about $10, which is typical for a SPAC still looking to close a deal. Two days later, Digital World shares jumped to as high as $175.

Major trading and investment firms entered the deal later through a so-called private investment in public equity, or PIPE, bringing the potential treasure chest awaiting Trump Media to $1.3 billion. In exchange, the investors would get a discount on the shares so they could sell at a profit once the takeover was completed.

The catch was that the merger would need to be done by Sept. 20. If not, the investors had the right to walk away — ultimately leading to the dilemma that Digital World and Trump Media now face as they await SEC approval for the takeover.

Several large investors are staying in the deal for now, as they negotiate for better terms with Digital World CEO Patrick Orlando, a person familiar with the matter said. On Sept. 20, Orlando, a once little-known financier from Miami who has since become the face of the Trump transaction, asked the firms for another 10 business days to renegotiate the structure, possibly opening the door for even more investors to exit soon, the person said.

Others who had committed $138 million opted to exit entirely. Hedge fund Sabby Management, which was set to invest $100 million, confirmed that it was one of the investors who terminated.

Another investor told POLITICO on the condition of being unnamed that they do not expect to get back into the deal, adding that they had remorse about doing it to begin with considering the former president’s involvement. The investor said that much of the interest in the deal has revolved around the economics of it, with many set to profit from huge windfalls should it go through. The shell company poised to take Trump’s startup public has seen its share prices continue to trade above other SPACs, likely a reflection of the heightened interest from individual investors.

“For me, it’s not a political thing. The terms were just ridiculous,” said one investor, who is now considering exiting the deal. “Take all the politics out of it, it was just a good trade.”

In the negotiations, one idea floated would be to let backers acquire stock at a lower price than envisioned in the original terms of the deal, meaning they could potentially reap a bigger profit when selling later in the market. The initial deal entitled investors to common stock at $10 per share, if they were trading at less than $56. The source close to the talks said investors are now looking to receive stock at $2, with cheaper shares being a stronger financial incentive to stay in. The Financial Times first reported the details of the renegotiations.

Ultimately, if Digital World is able to coax the investors to stay in, the company will still need SEC approval before it can close the Trump Media transaction.

Trump Media and Digital World, in the meantime, have been left scrambling. In early September, Digital World faced the threat of liquidation — a wind-down triggered if a SPAC cannot complete a combination within a predetermined period of time, usually one or two years. The companies tried to rally enough shareholders to give them another year to complete the deal, but failed. Digital World’s backers, instead, had to step in with a $2.9 million lifeline that extended the deadline until Dec. 8. They can provide another three months after that, if needed.

A meeting to tally shareholder votes for extending the merger deadline is scheduled for Oct. 10. Digital World and Trump Media did not respond to requests for comment.

Digital World has been cutting costs, including by moving its place of business from a WeWork office space in Miami’s trendy financial district to a UPS Store about five miles away.

Trump Media has appeared to grow anxious.

On Sept. 3, Trump posted on Truth Social that the SEC was “trying to hurt” Digital World, adding that he “doesn’t need financing, ‘I’m really rich!’ Private company anyone???”

Two weeks later, Trump Media released a statement blasting the SEC, calling the review of the deal an “inexcusable obstruction” and threatening to sue the regulator.

“In light of the obvious conflicts of interest among SEC officials and clear indications of political bias, TMTG is now exploring legal action against the SEC,” the company said. “Despite the increasing weaponization and politicization of government agencies, Truth Social will continue its expansion plans, supported by the unprecedented levels of user engagement on the platform.”

I love Rick's reaction to this article:

[GreyhoundFan]

Eyeroll...

[fundiewatch]

He’s such a fucking moron. Freaking end times of our civilization. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh, for fuck's sake:

 

[Dandruff]

27 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Eyeroll...

He doesn't want to talk about horrible things he heard about an opponent because nobody should be talking about them?  Sure.

[livinginthelight]

He's now appealing to the Supreme Court to get access to the classified documents and make them part of the special master's review.

Any legal buffs want to comment on this? How worried should be be?

[Audrey2]

3 hours ago, livinginthelight said:

He's now appealing to the Supreme Court to get access to the classified documents and make them part of the special master's review.

Any legal buffs want to comment on this? How worried should be be?

I'm not a legal buff or representative at all but I would say he should be less worried than he would be had he not stacked the court.

[livinginthelight]

6 hours ago, livinginthelight said:

He's now appealing to the Supreme Court to get access to the classified documents and make them part of the special master's review.

Any legal buffs want to comment on this? How worried should be be?

Just saw my typo. Wondering how worried WE should be. I don't trust this court at all but I think they're smart enough to not imitate judge Cannon in making senseless rulings.

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

My humble opinion which may not be worth much- SCOTUS knows it has taken a severe beating in how the public views its legitimacy. Roberts is furious that his legacy is going to be a chaotic court seen as political rather than impartial. The ones who voted with the majority on Dobbs have in the past shown willingness to vote in ways that aren’t in Trump’s favor. I think Roberts will circle the wagons, make clear that he expects the Dobbs justices to give credibility back to the SCOTUS by not mirroring the Cannon Clown Court especially as a SCOTUS decision will create precedent binding throughout the country. I haven’t checked- did SCOTUS even grant certiorari to take the case? One move would be to deny cert and stay out of it. Denial of cert could be justified on the grounds that the situation is very narrow and would likely never happen again so there is no need to take the case (however, as it does involve a matter of national concern it could be hard to justify denial of certiorari.) 

[BensAllergies]

This is a good thread explaining the merits or lack thereof of the latest Trump appeal to SCOTUS over the classified docs.

Same professor also noted that Justice Thomas gave the DOJ a full week to respond. Trump filed an emergency appeal (sorry, I’m probably not using the correct term), but Thomas giving them a week shows that even he doesn’t see this as requiring an immediate intervention.

 

[Alisamer]

20 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Eyeroll...

Wait, are we supposed to believe that Trump knows horrible things about a person he doesn't like, and ISN'T shouting it out all over the planet like the human manure spreader he is? Really? This dude who makes up accusations and silly nicknames for everyone he opposes in any way no matter how slight, suddenly has too much decorum to share the "horrible" things he's heard about Warnock?

Right. Sure Jan.

[GreyhoundFan]

So true:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I still think if they sold his trial as pay per view, we could retire the national debt  He would be the mostest bigliest famous person ever  

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Rambling dementia patient compares his home to places owned by drug cartels. 
 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

oh please…

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh please   

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

12 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Oh please   

 

I am not on Twitter because I don’t need another distraction for my “look, squirrel!” brain, but I frequent sites including this one that post tweets and even provide links to Twitter threads I can access. I find what I see quite interesting and entertaining. Back when Cruz’ college roommate had an active Twitter and answered questions (with brutal and very funny answers) I checked it a couple times a week. When that Sleestack dollar store garden gnome county clerk who had been married four times and had cheated on her husbands refused to grant the gay couple a marriage license made national news, someone took a screenshot of the deputy clerk at her desk and created a Twitter account named something like (insert that hobgoblin’s name) Embarrassed Employee, I checked it several times a day. It was hilarious. Whoever created and ran the account was very good at never making fun of the employee (aside from one joke that was something like “Thanks (insert name- I really don’t want to look it up because I want her to be gone from our minds and this mortal coil), around here I’m a solid 8 but now that you made our office go viral, I’m feeling like an LA 3.” which was the closest it got.) The tweets were things like “Just as I settled in with a fresh, cold DMD another group of reporters came in and she hid in her office again. Thanks (hobgoblin). By the time I finished shooing them all out, my DMD was flat and warm.” (The picture showed a can of Diet Mt. Dew on her desk. I am not doing it justice- there were far funnier tweets but I can’t remember them. My long winded point is Twitter is BETTER without that turd. 

[47of74]

16 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Oh please   

Fucknugget is probably saying this cause he figures since Elon’s interested again maybe this will convince Elon to let him come back. 

[GreyhoundFan]

The corruption just never ends with the orange monster:

 

[onekidanddone]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The corruption just never ends with the orange monster:

 

Sweet Rufus can this just end already!!!111!!11?

[Ozlsn]

I found this thread quite interesting, although I'm not sure how much difference it is likely to make - they'll just replace him with someone else. Also wasn't sure whether to put it here or in the mid-terms thread, but chose here as it really seems to illustrate the impact that the hearings, the raud, the subpoenas may be having.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

[47of74]

On that note only a few people attended a pro-fuck face bund meeting yesterday

Quote

Just a few dozen people attended a pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., on Friday, and those present blamed the low turnout on a number of factors from "agitators" to the sunny weather.

The event was not organized or attended by Donald Trump but was held by activists who support the former president. However, just 27 people came to the rally, according to a report from The Daily Beast.

The most high-profile attendee was Steve Bannon, former chief strategist at the Trump White House, who was joined by former Trump campaign aide Matt Braynard, a frequent guest on Bannon's podcast.

The Daily Beast's Zachary Petrizzo said that two paid security personnel were among the 27 people at the D.C. event, while five liberal activists went in protest.

So if the guards and the activists were included in that 27 people total that's less than two dozen fuck face supporters at the event yesterday.  I guess since fuck face wasn't there more people didn't want to go. 

Edited October 9, 2022 by 47of74

[Xan]

What I think is interesting is the mention in news articles of the "front row Joes" that attend Trump's speeches.  These people drive hundreds of miles to see him in different states.  They're the diehard fans.  I wonder what the percentage is of actual local people who come to a rally?

And I'm not even going to explore exactly what is mentally wrong with people who will drive for hours to hear this idiot speak.

[GreyhoundFan]

Exhibit 971,048,666: