The Intercept sues Trump on First Amendment issues for Truth API

Aug. 12 (UPI) — Online news site The Intercept, along with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, sued President Donald Trump and members of his staff Wednesday to challenge their plan to monetize the president’s posts on Truth Social.

The organizations allege that the scheme would “violate the First Amendment rights of journalists and other members of the public to equal access to official information, the lawsuit argues, while allowing Trump to trade his public statements for cold hard cash,” The Intercept reported.

On Aug. 1, Trump launched the plan, “Truth API,” which would give early access to subscribers — for $100,000 per month — to his posts on Truth Social, the social media company that he owns through Trump Media.

“Markets already move on Truth Social posts,” interim CEO Kevin McGurn said in a July 16 press release. “Truth API delivers a direct, licensed, real-time feed of the platform’s most market-moving Truths while advancing our strategy to monetize proprietary blockets through a high-margin, recurring revenue stream. As adoption grows, we expect Truth API to become a meaningful, ongoing source of revenue for the company, creating lasting value for shareholders.”

Trump owns about 52.1% stake in Trump Media & Technology Group. His stake was originally valued at $4 billion, but recent stock declines make his stake now worth about $1 billion.

The release didn’t mention the president, but Trump’s account is the largest on the site with 13 million followers. It’s where he announces many policy changes that influence foreign affairs, the stock market and the war in Iran.

“Trump is trying to enrich himself by privatizing government information that he has no right to sell,” said Ben Muessig, editor-in-chief of The Intercept. “We won’t let it stand.”

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. It also alleges that the plan would violate the Fifth Amendment by charging “unreasonable sums” for access to government information and undermining the right to equal protection under the law, the site said.

“This lawsuit seeks to vindicate the principle that the president of the United States cannot profit from the official government statements of the president,” said Nikhel Sus, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which provided legal support for the lawsuit. “Every American is entitled to equal access to the president’s public statements. Individuals who pay $100,000 to the president’s personal company do not have any greater entitlement to those public statements.”

Some have also raised concerns about insider trading.

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has launched an investigation and sent a letter to McGurn.

“This insider-information scheme will enable Wall Street to profit from the President’s frequent market-moving posts on major businesses and cash in on swings in stock prices caused by the President’s buying and selling (or pumping and dumping, if you prefer) of publicly traded stocks to unwitting retail investors,” Rankin said in a statement. “A public official with access to the ultimate insider information — his own next actions and policies as the Chief Executive of the United States — is selling advance access to that market- moving information to the high bidders at the expense of all other investors who may lack the steep $100,000 subscription. This White House-Wall Street-Trump-Business feedback loop represents the depraved essence of insider trading.”

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mblock., sent a letter on July 28 to Paul Atkins chair U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, expressing multiple concerns about Truth API.

“Ultimately, Trump Media’s new service threatens to undermine the integrity of capital markets,” the senators said. “Because of this service, social media posts about the President’s opinion or policy intent will not be available to the public or ordinary investors at the same speed as Wall Street firms and wealthy insiders paying for access. Furthermore, early access to President Trump’s social media posts for Wall Street firms, wealthy insiders, and high-frequency traders will erode investor confidence in basic fairness of the markets.

“The new service also raises serious ethics concerns,” they added. “The Trump Administration is the most corrupt in the nation’s history, and questions about inappropriate insider access to information about its policies and actions have raised questions on multiple occasions. But even amid these clouds of corruption, Trump Media’s plan … represents a shocking abuse of the office of the President and the trust of the American public for his personal gain.”