Ex-federal prosecutors say Trump media company's scheme to sell early access to Truth Social posts is likely criminal

Key Points:

• A group of 53 former federal prosecutors and agents filed an amicus brief arguing that President Trump's media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, may be committing federal crimes by selling Wall Street investors early access to Truth Social posts via its Truth API data feed.
• The Truth API charges subscribers $100,000 for real-time access to posts from high-ranking Truth Social accounts, and this practice is central to a lawsuit filed by the Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation alleging violations of the First and Fifth Amendments.
• The former prosecutors contend that selling early access to market-moving information likely violates multiple federal laws, including those against insider trading, illegal gratuities, conflicts of interest, and the Trade Secrets Act.
• They warned that both executive branch officials and paying subscribers could face criminal liability if the early access leads to trades based on nonpublic information, drawing parallels to traditional insider trading scenarios.
• A court hearing on the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to block the early access service is scheduled for October 7 in the Southern District of New York.