The company planning to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of Truth Social, spent $10.8 million on legal fees related to government investigations in 2021 and 2022, according to an amended financial statement Digital World Acquisition filed with the SEC this week.
Those legal fees comprise about 46% of the company’s total expenses over that two-year period, Forbes reports.
Digital World first acknowledged almost two years ago that it was under scrutiny from regulators. According to the amended filing it submitted Monday, the $10.8 million the SPAC spent on legal fees pertained to a probe by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority of stock trades made before the company publicly announced its intent to merge with Trump Media, an SEC inquiry into the deal and an investigation by the Department of Justice.
At least two of those inquiries appear to have moved forward since the end of 2022. In June, the SEC charged a former Digital World board member, Bruce Garelick, and two others with insider trading of the stock. That case is currently going through pretrial motions.
Digital World in July settled fraud charges with the commission for “making material misrepresentations” in its pre-IPO filings by failing to disclose that it already was pursuing the acquisition of Trump Media. The SPAC agreed to pay an $18 million penalty if the merger goes through. Read more.
