‘It’s so corrosive to democracy’: Over 50 federal prosecutors speak out against Trump’s $100,000 a month ‘insider trading’ scheme

Prosecutors challenge Truth Social subscription

The 53 former prosecutors and law enforcement agents filed an amicus brief Monday in the Southern District of New York in support of a preliminary injunction from The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The group includes former officials who worked on public corruption and public integrity matters at the Justice Department, FBI and U.S. attorneys’ offices across 11 presidential administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Collectively, they say they have more than 880 years of government service.

“It’s so corrosive to democracy and to the public interest when we see the president financially benefitting from his official role,” Renata O’Donnell, senior legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center which worked with Singleton Schreiber on the filing, told Fortune. “We’re in an environment where we all want to be looking to the founders, right? They came over because they were in a situation where they saw that a government all in the hands of one person was not a success—and they tried to insulate the president constitutionally and through a variety of other protections to make sure he could be independent.”

And the filing echoes the sentiment.

“There is no legitimate, let alone significant, government interest in allowing public officials to profit personally by selling early access to official government announcements,” the filing read. “But Truth Social’s new scheme to charge up to $100,000 per month for users to get early access to messages from the President and other officials on the platform seeks to do precisely that.”

Truth API is a data licensing product launched by Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social. The company had pitched the service to financial institutions and trading firms as a way to receive posts from prominent Truth Social accounts before they are broadly available. Reports estimate nearly a dozen firms have already signed up for the $100,000 a month service.

“I’ll be blunt,” Gian Luca Clementi, an economics professor at NYU Stern School of Business, previously told Fortune regarding Trump’s subscription service. “This is insider trading by definition.”

Trump Media and Technology Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.

Legal liability and potential violations

The group has not filed a lawsuit yet—and it’s not asserting that a crime has already been proven. Instead, the brief is disputing launching the service on grounds that it may be criminal. The brief states the Truth API subscription may violate criminal laws and the Securities Exchange Act, where violators may be liable for “unlawful insider tips.”

And O’Donnell emphasizes the liability of the subscribers, explaining that there can be “implications for the people who are paying for the premium subscription.”

“There is potential criminal liability for folks who have paid the $100,000,” she said, “and so that would extend to folks who have already paid the $100,000, and for future folks who might. And so, to shunt some of that future harm, it is in the public interest to shut this down sooner rather than later, as before more folks sign on.”

The filing also outlines further ways Trump’s service may be in violation of laws, including the Securities Exchange Act, Trade Secrets Act, illegal gratuity, conflict of interest, and illicit compensation for federal employment.

“Because there are myriad ways that the Truth Social scheme could pose criminal liability for both the President and for subscribers, there is no legitimate or significant government interest that justifies the scheme,” the filing read. “Public officers are trusted with serving the public and operating outside of corrosive special interests. But the Truth Social scheme flips this anti-corruption principle on its head.”

The filing also argues the financial relationship between Trump and TMTG makes the arrangement different from an ordinary government communications system. Trump is a major beneficiary of TMTG, and the brief says he therefore benefits financially when the value of Truth Social goes up.

The city of San Francisco separately sued TMTG as well, accusing the company of violating California’s unfair competition law and federal insider trading rules. The city is also seeking to stop the service and impose penalties for violations.

Other business ventures for Trump

Trump Media operates Truth Social alongside Truth+, its streaming service, and Truth.Fi, a financial services brand. Its SEC filings say Truth.Fi includes investment products and a digital-asset strategy, including a bitcoin treasury. TMTG also launched a group of exchange-traded funds tied to themes such as American defense, energy security and other investments.

Trump’s family has separately built a substantial cryptocurrency business through World Liberty Financial, a venture co-founded by Trump and his sons. Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed more than $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures, including almost $800 million associated with World Liberty Financial and $635 million from Trump memecoin sales.