Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) is logging out of Congress and logging in to Trump’s new media company.
On Monday, news broke that Congressman Nunes was going to retire due to a recent opportunity he “could not refuse.” Not long after those reports, multiple news outlets confirmed the offer: CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). The company also released a statement.
In the social media world, Rep. Nunes is known for his online beef with a Twitter parody account, @DevinCow, which he tried to (and failed) to sue. However, Rep. Nunes’ feud with a fake cow on Twitter isn’t the likely reason that Donald Trump offered him the position.
What is more likely is that Trump is rewarding Rep. Nunes with the position due to his vast experience in covering for the former president, and his ability to fundraise.
Rep. Nunes served as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Trump was in the White House. While serving in that position, Nunes was a constant thorn in the side of the committee, undermining its own investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s possible connections to it.
And, when Nunes resigns from Congress in January, it’s likely he’ll need to hit the ground running with TMTG.
Just days after Trump’s new media company announced it has raised more than $1 billion from investors, it was revealed that the SPAC that plans to merge with Trump’s social media company is under investigation by the SEC. The plan would bring TMTG to the stock market and open it up to these investments.
Trump announced Trump Media & Technology Group, his new media endeavor in mid-October, alongside the unveiling of its first project, an upcoming social network called TRUTH Social.
Of course, drama soon followed. Within hours of the announcement, trolls had found an unreleased version of the website, defacing it. The whole situation also uncovered that Trump’s company was violating the license of the open-source software TRUTH Social was based on.
While Rep. Nunes will likely come out ahead with a higher salary than he makes as a member of Congress, Trump’s political opponents are probably happy with a trade off that sees Nunes out of his position of political power. In addition, the area that Nunes represents was just redistricted, and the results were not in his favor.
