Before his removal from office and social media, Donald Trump’s private company had reportedly struck a deal with Parler, the social media platform popular among right-wing users and used by many during the Capitol riots last month.
The deal – which never fully materialized – offered the former president a 40 percent stake in the company in exchange for his exclusive use of the platform. BuzzFeed News has reported.
Ethics experts have since expressed concern about the talks, saying they may have violated anti-bribery laws, as Trump was still in the Oval Office when they took place, according to the report. It remained unclear how involved the former president was in those discussions, which were reportedly organized by his former campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and a campaign attorney, Alex Cannon.
Along with investors for the company, former Parler CEO John Matze met with Mr. Trump’s aides last year to discuss the proposal: the former president would have his statements and content exclusively on the company’s social media site for four hours. before uploading that material to other platforms – with links that go back to the original Parler content.
In statements to BuzzFeed NewsMr Parscale claimed that the former president “was never part of the discussions” he described as “never so substantive”.
He added, “This was just one of many things the campaign looked at to tackle Silicon Valley’s cancellation culture.”
Parscale was removed from office in the Trump campaign and effectively kicked out of the former president’s inner circle after falling out of favor.
A consultant from the company also said BuzzFeed News the former president was not involved in the discussions, adding, “We talked to several people about possible interests in the company to produce certain things.”
Still, some groups suggested that the discussions may have violated anti-bribery laws even without the full accomplishment of a final deal or the direct involvement of the president, including the Project on Government Oversight.
Scott Amey, general counsel to the impartial watchdog group, told the news center “courts have ruled that Trump’s social media posts constituted official business while in office.”
He added, “His posts were a preferred method for the White House to communicate with the public. If the offer included anything valuable and Trump planned to post on a social media platform while still in office, that would almost certainly be illegal and would have to be held accountable. “
Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, tweeted about the news, “Aside from all the other issues with this, the government argued that Trump’s tweets were official issues.”
He added, “Parler is said to have paid Trump to post official issues on his platform. The corruption was bottomless. We need major ethical reforms and strong ethical leadership.
Parler was removed from Amazon, Apple, and Google app stores following the deadly riot in the Capitol, with officials from major tech companies saying it failed to adequately address users’ messages of threats by force. The former CEO then argued in court that the shutdown was made “in part on the basis of a desire to deny President Trump a platform,” while claiming he had expressed an interest in joining the site.
Trump was also removed from the vast majority of social media platforms after the riots, after posting videos and messages during the uprising continuing to promote false claims of stolen elections. The former president was impeached a second time by the House of Representatives for instigating the uprising.