Charlie Kirk's Turning Point nonprofits are growing quickly

At the age of 30 Kirk has spent 12 years expanding U.S. youth-led right-wing activism

Turning Point USA had $40 million in revenue in 2020 which doubled to $80 mil in 2022

🧵with highlights

newstracs.com/charlie-kirks-… Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point website says it has 350 part and full-time staff, 800+ chapters on 3,500 US campuses where they run events, recruit activists and register voters

Kirk meanwhile hosts shows espousing conspiracy theories and far-right views

newstracs.com/charlie-kirks-…

Michael Shvartsman who pleaded guilty today to insider trading related to DWAC-Trump Media merger is friends w/Anton Postolnikov who used ES Family Trust to loan $8mil to Trump Media in 2022 per @hugolowell

There's another link from Shvartsman to ES Family Trust, see 🧵below

https://twitter.com/hugolowell/status/1775600248095740184

As @hugolowell reported the ES Family Trust
creation papers included a declaration that, if the original trustee – a Paxum employee named Angel Pacheco – stepped down from the role, his successor would be a certain individual named Michael Shvartsman

theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a…

Russian-American under investigation loaned Trump Media $8 million in 2022

Last year @hugolowell reported on 2 loans to Trump Media from ES Family Trust run by Anton Postolnikov, nephew of Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov

Today's story adds new information:
theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a… ES Family Trust was established in May 2021 and Postolnikov’s access to account was verified in Nov 2021 by a Paxum Bank manager. The trust was funded in December 2021 and Trump Media received loans from ES Family Trust: $2m Dec 2021 and $6m Feb 2022.

theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a…

I've been following Trump $ for years - OGE filings, real estate deals, loans, NYAG fraud case, DWAC and Trump Media & Technology Group merger, etc

Subscribe for emails when I publish, all content is free and donate to support this ongoing work here 👉 👈 newstracs.com
Quick 🧵 of my recent pieces

Trump has over half a billion dollars in legal penalties – a review of nine+ years of Trump’s cash spreadsheets reveals new information and raises new questions

newstracs.com/trumps-cash-ba…

The merger of Trump's media company and DWAC was approved and may trade next week under the stock symbol DJT

The deal will pump $300 million into Trump Media and support Truth Social

Trump’s stake could be worth up to $3 billion

Hang on to your seats
nytimes.com/2024/03/22/bus…

https://twitter.com/MattGoldstein26/status/1771179238437147108

Merger of Trump's TMTG and DWAC approved today - Trump Media will trade under symbol DJT as early as next week and may be worth billions to Trump

There's a 6 month lock up period, but info in article below on how Trump could access the $ or loans earlier

https://x.com/WendySiegelman/status/1770959948278649338?s=20

A lot of people asking how Trump will pay over half a billion are missing this story

Trump’s social media company TMTG is set to go public as early as Monday. He could borrow against the value of his stake - which may go up $3 billion

by @MattGoldstein26
nytimes.com/2024/03/21/bus… Trump's TMTG is merging with Digital World Acquisition Corporation.

DWAC shareholders are expected to approve the merger Friday - and the company could trade under stock symbol DJT by Monday.

Trump’s 79 million shares will be worth more than $3 billion.
nytimes.com/2024/03/21/bus…

Trump has $500+ million in penalties

The media asks how he'll pay but few looked into NYAG fraud case exhibits on his past cash balances. So I did.

I compiled data on Trump's cash/short term investments 2013-2021 to reveal new info, insights & questions

newstracs.com/trumps-cash-ba… To understand Trump's cash position I compiled new info on his cash and short term investments based on docs available in the NYAG fraud case exhibits 

There's a lot of new info - I'll thread some details and highlights below, please read and share 

newstracs.com/trumps-cash-ba…

Jared Kushner’s Firm Eyes Billion-Dollar Deals in the Balkans - his Affinity Partners plans to transform Albania’s Sazan Island into a luxury Aman branded eco-resort community

Firm also looking into renewable energy, data centers, AI

HT @JelenaRadojici7
bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Jared Kushner researched potential deals in the Balkans for his firm Affinity Partners "with his friends Ric Grenell, who served as US Ambassador to Germany during the Trump administration, and Asher Abehsera"

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

'Enough is enough' says Ukrainian oligarch charged 10 years ago in mysterious Chicago bribe case

The media (in this case the ABC7 I-Team) doing the work of indicted oligarch Dmitry Firtash and his legal team by parroting their words as a 'news' story Dmitry (aka Dmytro) Firtash has had ties to the Kremlin, Gazprom & reputed Russian mafia ties

Reminder that Firtash hired Trump aligned lawyers Toensing & diGenova and paid Lev Parnas while they were all hunting for dirt on Biden ahead of 2020 election

https://x.com/WendySiegelman/status/1498342436363546626?s=20

Tearful Russian billionaire who spent $2 billion on art tells jurors Sotheby's cheated him

Dmitry Rybolovlev (in '08 paid Trump $95mil for home Trump paid $41mil in '04) suing Sotheby's for $160+ mil loss - after 9 cases vs dealer Bouvier were dismissed

aol.com/news/tearful-r… I’ve been watching how Dmitry Rybolovlev has managed to flood the news cycle for years with his billion dollar art lawsuits - claiming Bouvier over-charged him $1 billion, while admitting he didn’t always look at docs that would have showed the numbers
aol.com/news/tearful-r…

Putin/GRU seem to have new talking points for GOP:

Indicted sanctioned Russian agent Andrii Derkach (helped Giuliani find dirt on Biden) shares 'new evidence' in soon to be released video w/Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos (wife of exTrump advisor George convicted for lying to FBI) In 2020 Andrii Derkach worked closely with Giuliani to smear Biden.

Derkach is the son of a KGB officer and he was schooled at a KGB academy in Moscow and later became a pro-Russia Ukrainian lawmaker

https://x.com/WendySiegelman/status/1296902393712476164?s=20

Ukraine charges Rudy Giuliani ally with Moscow-linked treason

Ukraine’s security service says MP spread fake news to interfere with 2020 US election, his group was paid $10million+ by Russian military intelligence

SBU photos show MP is Oleksandr Dubinsky
politico.eu/article/oleksa… Oleksandr Dubinsky, ex-Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach, ex-prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk joined an organization formed by chiefs of Russia’s Military Intelligence (GRU)

Dubinsky, Derkach met Giuliani in Kyiv in 2019 while filming documentary to help Trump
politico.eu/article/oleksa…

The wheels of justice haven't moved in the US for Erik Prince but they are slowly turning in Austria

@StefanMelichar reports that trial starts next Thursday in Austria for Prince and 4 defendants on criminal charges for allegedly illegally arming 2 agricultural planes, HT @RYP__

https://twitter.com/StefanMelichar/status/1723323904272261188

Trump confidant Erik Prince will be in court in Austria next week

Trial on alleged conversion of 2 agricultural aircraft into “war material” begins Thursday in Wiener Neustadt - Former US mercenary leader Prince denies the allegations, by @StefanMelichar

profil.at/investigativ/t…

Brad Parscale (digital director for Trump's 2016 campaign and campaign manager in 2020) is now working for the Trump 2024 campaign, has many ties to Texas billionaire Tim Dunn - and to a company piloting technology to detect school shooters.

My latest:
newstracs.com/brad-parscale-… In 2017 Parscale sold his business to Cloud Commerce, now renamed AiAdvertising (AIAD), for $9 mil.

TX billionaire Tim Dunn's Hexagon Partners recently invested $5mil in AIAD and designated Donald Trump Jr's close pal Tom Hicks Jr. as a board director

newstracs.com/brad-parscale-…

Michael Szafranski, coconspirator in billion-dollar Rothstein Ponzi scheme, now heads Kushner Companies Florida acquisitions and is on Surfside’s planning and zoning board - overseeing controversial plans for UAE's Damac to develop collapsed Surfside site
floridabulldog.org/2023/09/co-con… Szafranski was a key player in the jaw-dropping $1.3-billion fraud perpetrated by ex-Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein - Szafranski worked for investors as an “independent verifier” while secretly receiving payments from Rothstein.

floridabulldog.org/2023/09/co-con…

Before any of the criminal trials, Trump is scheduled for a civil trial in New York in October.

Attorney general, Letitia James, seeks to bar Trump and three of his children from leading the Trump Organization and to pay a fine of around $250 million.

nytimes.com/2023/08/30/nyr… AG James says fraud is so pervasive a trial is not needed for the court to rule:

“Based on the undisputed evidence, no trial is required for the court to determine that defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values,” the filing said.

nytimes.com/2023/08/30/nyr…

DC Attorney General is probing Leonard Leo’s network

The Federalist Society head has used nonprofits to collect $1 billion+ for conservative causes

Politico reported Leo's nonprofits paid his for-profit company tens of millions $, by @HeidiReports

politico.com/news/2023/08/2… March story about $ paid to Leo's CRC Advisors.

"A network of political non-profits formed by judicial activist Leonard Leo moved at least $43 million to a new firm he is leading, raising questions about how his conservative legal movement is funded."

politico.com/news/2023/03/0…

NEW: Financials and donors of PragerU – the nonprofit behind controversial right-wing propaganda videos recently approved for Florida schools

The DeSantis admin approved PragerU curriculum for K-12 students

New reporting on donors and financials 🧵

newstracs.com/financial-high… Many stories report fracking billionaire Wilks brothers gave $6.5 million to launch PragerU and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation is a big donor

I found that since 2018 the Marcus Foundation (of Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus) gave $6.5 million
newstracs.com/financial-high…

Trump's planned social media partner Digital World Acquisition Corp/DWAC was charged by the SEC with misleading investors with its disclosures and settled with an $18 million penalty

Now DWAC announces that their accounting firm Marcum, LLP has resigned

https://t.co/etRpC6Tjnhsec.gov/Archives/edgar…


Seems like DWAC is throwing accounting firm Marcum-which just resigned-under the bus.

DWAC notes things Marcum 'should have' done and that Marcum settled with the SEC for “...systemic quality control failures throughout the firm" and $10 million penalty

https://t.co/y1sVaVs0H6sec.gov/Archives/edgar…

Donald Trump has been indicted on four counts related to efforts to overturn results of the 2020 election

Counts include:

Obstruction of an official proceeding

Conspiracy to defraud the government of the United States

@KenDilanianNBC @MSNBC Trump indicted
6 co-defendents
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan per @MSNBC

4 counts:

Conspiracy to defraud the US

Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding

Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding

Conspiracy against rights

https://twitter.com/ZcohenCNN/status/1686491383983407104?s=20

Eliyahu Weinstein was convicted twice of defrauding investors of $230 million, Trump freed him in 2021, 8 yrs into a 24yr sentence.

Weinstein is charged again for a new ponzi crime with four others, for conspiring to defraud investors of over $35 million.
justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/con… 5 defendants charged with wire fraud conspiracy and obstruction

Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein aka Mike Konig, Aryeh “Ari” Bromberg, Joel Wittels (all from New Jersey), Shlomo Erez (Israel) and Alaa Hattab (Canada)

3 arrested, Wittels and Hattab remain at large
justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/con…