Trump Media fired whistleblower after he spoke to Washington Post, shared documents

Former President Donald Trump's media institution fired an enforcement Thursday aft helium shared interior documents from a Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower ailment with The Washington Post and spoke with the newspaper, the quality outlet reported Saturday.

Will Wilkerson was a elder vice president of operations astatine Trump Media and Technology, which owns the societal web Truth Social, and was 1 of the company's archetypal employees.

Wilkerson filed the SEC whistleblower ailment successful August, alleging that the institution relied connected "fraudulent misrepresentations … successful usurpation of national securities laws" successful its bid to beryllium taken nationalist via an concern conveyance known arsenic peculiar intent acquisition company, oregon SPAC, according to the Post.

In the article, helium besides described strife wrong Trump Media, including hostility with CEO Devin Nunes, who, arsenic a Republican congressman, was 1 of Trump's astir loyal defenders. Wilkerson besides said different enforcement elaborate however Trump pressured him to springiness shares successful the institution to his wife, Melania Trump.

Trump Media and Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC seeking to instrumentality the media institution public, didn't instantly respond to requests for comment. Wilkerson has

CNBC besides reached retired to Wilkerson's attorneys for comment.

Trump Media fired Wilkerson for making "unauthorized disclosures" to the Post, the paper said. One of his lawyers called the firing a retalation against a whistleblower, according to the report. There are laws that support whistleblowers.

The study comes arsenic DWAC pushes its shareholders to ballot to hold its planned merger with Trump Media, which was announced past year. DWAC has warned it could liquidate if it doesn't implicit the merger, which would beryllium worthy hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump Media.

DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando directed different of his companies to springiness DWAC backing to support it afloat until December. He has already adjourned a shareholder gathering 4 times, an denotation that helium doesn't person the shareholder enactment to hold the merger.

The Trump Media-DWAC woody is being investigated by regulators astatine the SEC and prosecutors successful the Justice Department. Trump Media has blamed the SEC for delaying the deal.

In the article, helium besides described undisclosed discussions betwixt Trump, his media company's executives and Orlando past year, earlier DWAC went nationalist and the woody was announced. Those talks whitethorn person violated SEC rules.

Wilkerson shared interior logs, memos, photographs, videos and different worldly applicable to the SEC probe with the Post. All of the materials were antecedently provided to authorities investigators, the Post said, citing Wilkerson's attorneys.

Trump Media had suspended the enforcement aft the Miami Herald archetypal reported the SEC ailment connected Oct. 6, calling it a "blatant violation" of his nondisclosure agreement, the Post said.

Read the afloat Washington Post study here.