Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities lambasted Devin Nunes, the CEO of Truth Social’s parent company, as a “proverbial loser” after the former Republican congressman blamed Wall Street market makers for Trump Media and Technology Group’s tanking stock price.
The war of words was triggered by a letter Nunes sent to the Nasdaq Stock Market on Thursday in which he accused Citadel Securities and others of engaging in “market manipulation” — specifically “naked short selling,” whereby traders sell shares of a company that the seller had not actually borrowed for that purpose.
Griffin — a major Republican donor who gave money to Nunes in 2021, according to a Federal Election Commission filing — unloaded on the former lawmaker in denying any wrongdoing Friday.
“Devin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame ‘naked short selling’ for his falling stock price,” a Citadel Securities spokesperson told The Post.
“Nunes is exactly the type of person Donald Trump would have fired on ‘The Apprentice.’ If he worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him, as ability and integrity are at the center of everything we do.”
Trump Media quickly fired back.
“Citadel Securities, a corporate behemoth that has been fined and censured for an incredibly wide range of offenses including issues related to naked short selling, and is world famous for screwing over everyday retail investors at the behest of other corporations, is the last company on earth that should lecture anyone on ‘integrity,’” a spokesperson told The Post.
TMTG’s stock price has been a roller-coaster ride since going public last month, losing more than half its value as many on Wall Street placed bets that the company would fail.
Shares closed Friday at $36.38, down about $25 from its debut price on March 26 — despite rallying in the past three days. .
In Nunes letter to Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, he wrote that traders had “significant financial incentive to lend non-existent shares” to short sellers because of the high premiums they were able to charge.
“Data made available to us indicate that just four market participants have been responsible for over 60% of the extraordinary volume of DJT shares traded: Citadel Securities, VIRTU Americas, G1 Execution Services, and Jane Street Capital,” Nunes wrote.
Nunes asked Nasdaq to have the brokers reveal their short positions.
VIRTU declined to comment.
The Post has sought comment from Nasdaq and Jane Street Capital. G1 Execution Services could not be reached.
While investors have been trying to short Trump Media, there are very few shares of the company available for trading — which makes it expensive to borrow shares.
Griffin, meanwhile, is no fan of the presumptive Republican nominee, who owns a 60% stake in TMTG.
He urged the Republican Party to ditch Trump in favor of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Both were trounced by Trump in the primaries.
During a recent conference, Griffin said that Trump was “good for our capital markets” — predicting that the former president will defeat incumbent Joe Biden this November.
In 2021, Nunes left Congress to head up Trump Media and Technology Group, which was a private company at the time. Three months before he stepped down, Griffin had donated $5,800 to his campaign, record show.
TMTG merged with a “blank check company” — Digital World Acquisition Corp — making the firm’s stock available for trading on the Nasdaq.
