Asked by CNBC and NBC News, Green did not say what happened to her stock in Digital World Acquisition Corp., which through a merger with Trump Media and Technology Group recently began publicly trading as DJT. The stock price is down at least 45% year to date.
Trump Media is the parent company of the former president’s social media app Truth Social. DWAC shareholders voted to approve the merger with Trump Media to take the company public on March 22, with the company debuting on the Nasdaq on March 26.
Green is one of two members of Congress who disclosed the purchase of shares in Digital World Acquisition Corp. She and Rep. Larry Buckshon, R-Ind., each bought stock in the company in October 2021, according to financial disclosure reports, the same month the company announced it had struck a deal with Trump Media to merge the two companies, with the target is Trump’s business to trade publicly on the stock market.
Green bought $15,000 to $50,000 worth of DWAC stock on Oct. 22, 2021, just days after the merger was announced, according to her official congressional financial disclosure filings. DWAC shares opened the day trading at $118.80 and closed around $67.
Bucshon bought DWAC stock on Oct. 25, 2021, for somewhere between $1,000 and $15,000, according to a financial disclosure. DWAC shares closed the day at around $83.
If either lawmaker were still an investor in DWAC now, they could lose thousands — up to $32,500 in Green’s case — according to Chris Josephs, co-founder of stock trading app Autopilot. Josephs noted that Bucshon could have lost as much as $8,900 in a drop in the stock price.
A spokesperson for Bucshon confirmed to CNBC and NBC News that the Indiana lawmaker still owns stock in the now-merged media company despite the falling stock price.
“Congressman Buckshon has not taken any further action on his investment in DWAC since its initial purchase in October 2021, and he has fully complied with all disclosure requirements required under federal law related to this trade,” the spokesman said in a statement.
He did not respond to follow-up questions about why Bucshon continued to hold the stock, which closed at $32 on Thursday, marking a 54% drop in share price since the shares debuted on the Nasdaq in March. The company also erased all of its gains since the stock began trading under the ticker DJT at $70.90.
Bucshon’s most recent annual financial disclosure shows that he entered 2023 with DWAC shares valued in the range of $1,001 to $15,000.
But Green did not say what happened to her stock after her initial purchase, and her public disclosures do not show she sold media stock to DWAC or Trump, according to documents archived by LegiStorm, raising questions among ethics lawyers about what happened to Green’s shares.
When asked about the status of her DWAC shares, Greene spokesman Nick Dyer said in an email that Greene “does not currently own any shares as reflected in her financial disclosure.”
He did not respond to subsequent requests for comment on what happened to her shares in the company.
Green also did not say when asked by NBC News on Wednesday what happened to her Trump Media shares. “It’s a waste of time. I think you can read my reports and see what I own,” she said.
“Where are her shares?” Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House, said in a telephone interview.
He and other ethics lawyers offered several potential reasons why Green would not include the stock in her latest disclosures.
If she still owns DWAC stock and the estimated value of the asset falls below $1,000, it would not need to be disclosed, according to Campaign Legal Center general counsel Cedric Payne.
Another plausible scenario is that Green recently sold her shares. In that case, she wouldn’t have to disclose the sale for up to 45 days, according to Painter. She also may have lost the asset during her divorce from her then-husband in 2022, Painter said, noting that if the stock was transferred through a divorce settlement, it may not be considered an asset deal. Green finalized their divorce in December 2022, according to Business Insider.
“She needs to explain what the hell happened,” Painter explained.
Legislators are not prohibited from trading or holding individual stocks and other investments. But under the SEC Act, members of Congress must report all trades within 45 days.
Some members of Congress and outside groups have long argued that members of Congress should not be allowed to trade stocks while serving as elected officials. But legislation that would have barred them from trading individual stocks has stalled in Congress.
— Scott Wong of NBC News contributed to this story.
