Federal investigators examined Trump Media for possible money laundering, sources say

Federal prosecutors are examining whether Trump Media violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8m with suspected Russian ties, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The company Trump Media, which owns Trump’s Truth Social platform, initially came under criminal investigation over its preparations for a potential merger with a blank check company called Digital World.

The expanded nature of the criminal investigation threatens to delay the merger between Trump Media and Digital World that was also the subject of an earlier probe by the SEC.

Federal prosecutors’ interest in the two payments appear to have started when Wilkerson alerted the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York to the payments.

Trump was the chairman of Trump Media at the time, though it was unclear whether he was aware of the opaque nature of the two loans.

Orlando, who arranged the $8m financing, is an SEC-licensed broker-dealer.