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Donald Trump's new social network has "highly suspect" Brazil ties, claims watchdog group
Donald Trump's new social network has “highly suspect” Brazil ties, claims watchdog group
Watchdog group suggests Trump did favors for Bolsonaro regime in exchange for help launching his media venture
By IGOR DERYSH
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 9, 2021 6:00AM
(Salon) A government watchdog group on Thursday called on Congress to investigate whether former President Donald Trump used the power of his presidency to help lay the groundwork for his planned social network before leaving office.
In October, Trump announced the launch of a social network and media platform through Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that would merge with the newly-formed Trump Media & Technology Group. The SPAC, which has already come under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other federal regulators amid scrutiny of its fluctuating stock price, was incorporated in December 2020, while Trump was still in office, according to Delaware records. The SPAC's chief financial officer is Brazilian lawmaker Luiz Philippe de Orléans e Braganza, a close ally of right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, sometimes described as the "Trump of the Tropics."
Around the same time as the SPAC was formed, Trump made several moves to benefit the Bolsonaro regime and the Brazilian president returned the favor, endorsing Trump ahead of his failed re-election bid. Trump struck a trade deal with Brazil before the 2020 election and declared Brazil a "major non-NATO ally" while removing COVID-based travel restrictions previously imposed on the South American nation.
The left-leaning government watchdog Accountable.US on Thursday called on the House Oversight and Reform Committee to "investigate potential efforts by President Donald J. Trump to deliver Brazil-friendly policies in the waning days of his presidency in exchange for help from key allies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in getting his recently announced social media venture off the ground," in a letter shared with Salon. ..............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/12/09/social-network-has-highly-suspect-brazil-ties-claims-watchdog-group/