At least four employees at Donald Trump’s media company Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, have left the company recently according to a new report from ProPublica, The news outlet says executives, including the chief operating officer and chief product officer, were pushed out after complaining to the company’s board about CEO Devin Nunes, a former congressman from California.
COO Andrew Northwall resigned on September 28, according to a mandatory filing with the SEC published late Thursday. Chief product officer Sandro De Moraes also left but was not mentioned in the new filing. Other employees who were reportedly pushed out include the human relations director and a product designer.
The employees departed after an anonymous “whistleblower” complaint was filed with Trump Media’s board of directors, according to ProPublica. The news organization didn’t obtain a copy of the complaint but spoke with several people from the company who say it involved “alleged mismanagement by Nunes” with one person noting it includes “allegations of misuse of funds, hiring of foreign contractors, and interfering with product development.”
The Trump Media board of directors includes seven people listed on the company’s website:
- Devin Nunes
- Eric Swider
- Donald J. Trump Jr.
- Kashyap “Kash” Patel
- W. Kyle Green
- Robert Lighthizer
- Linda McMahon
After the whistleblower complaint was received by the board, it reportedly hired a lawyer to investigate and interview employees, according to ProPublica. Those interviewed were then subsequently pushed out. One insider who spoke with ProPublica also alleged that employees would need to sign an agreement “pledging not to make public claims of wrongdoing against the company” in order to obtain severance. It’s not clear if anyone signed an NDA or if they received severance after their departure.
Northwall, the now-former COO, wrote about his departure on Thursday after the SEC filing was made public, but a week after the posted date for his resignation.
“I have decided to resign from my role at Trump Media and Technology Group / @truthsocial,” Northwall wrote at Truth Social. “I am incredibly grateful to @realDonaldTrump and @DevinNunes for this opportunity. Being part of TMTG has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Together, we’ve created a vital space for free speech, allowing individuals to express themselves without fear of censorship.”
Northwall went on to thank his “amazing team,” saying it had been a privilege to work with “such talented individuals committed to protecting free speech for everyone.” The former COO wrote he was looking forward to “focusing more on my family” and “returning to my entrepreneurial journey, where my heart truly lies.”
De Moraes didn’t publish a goodbye note on his Truth Social account, but his bio now reads, “Former Chief Product Officer @truthsocial.” Nunes has not posted anything about the departures on his own Truth Social account. ProPublica notes that Alex Gleason, a former Trump Media employee, wrote a few days ago about trouble at the company, tweeting in the fediverse, “Truth Social in shambles. Many more people fired.”
A representative for Trump Media didn’t immediately respond to an email Friday but gave a defensive statement to ProPublica saying its reporting has “no basis in reality.”
“This story is the fifth consecutive piece in an increasingly absurd campaign by ProPublica, likely at the behest of political interest groups, to damage TMTG based on false and defamatory allegations and vague innuendo,” the statement from Trump Media said. “As usual, your latest inquiry utterly fabricates implications of improper and even illegal conduct that have no basis in reality, presented without any reliable sourcing or substantiating details. Notwithstanding ProPublica’s reckless disregard for the truth, TMTG strictly adheres to all laws and applicable regulations including its disclosure of our former COO’s resignation. See his post on Truth Social at this link for his departing statement.”
ProPublica recently reported on Nunes traveling to North Macedonia with a group of other business executives, including the CEO of far-right video site Rumble, Chris Pavlovski, though it’s not clear what Nunes was doing there. A statement from the country’s conservative prime minister Hristijan Mickoski, was rather cryptic: “For now, I would not reveal this type of details,” according to local press.
Gizmodo will update this post if we hear back from representatives for Trump Media.
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