(Headline USA) The Biden administration confirmed this week that it has launched an investigation into Rumble, a free speech video platform that has rejected Big Tech censorship.
The Securities and Exchange Commission told leftist magazine Wired on Monday that it does have an active probe into Rumble, though it would not provide any information regarding the nature of the investigation.
An agency spokesperson also noted that the existence of the investigation does not mean Rumble has been accused of any illegal activity.
“We have confirmed with Division of Enforcement staff that the investigation from which you seek records is still active and ongoing,” said Melinda Hardy, the SEC’s assistant general counsel for litigation and administrative practice.
Hardy also denied Wired’s public-records request seeking additional information about the SEC’s investigation, claiming that turning over the requested documents “could be reasonably expected to cause harm to the ongoing and active enforcement proceedings because, among other things, individuals and entities of interest in the underlying investigation could fabricate evidence, influence witness testimony and/or destroy or alter certain documents.”
Rumble spokesperson Rory Rumore confirmed the SEC had requested documents from the company, which Rumble turned over voluntarily.
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski said in a tweet that the SEC’s request was related to a false report from a “short seller.”
He added that the report filed with the SEC was part of the “playbook to try and destroy” Rumble.
“The report is bogus, but that doesn’t matter—it’s all to get investors to sell the stock so the short seller profits,” he explained. “Good news, it won’t work. We saw the attacks coming, and we prepared for them.”
The playbook to try and destroy $RUM (Rumble)
A short seller creates a bogus report and sends it to the SEC. The SEC investigates the bogus report. Then the short seller talks to the media to get a story about how the SEC is investigating the report that started with him. The…
— Chris Pavlovski (@chrispavlovski) January 8, 2024
Pavlovski warned that Rumble would likely face additional attacks in the future from leftists who “can’t stand Rumble’s mission.” But “they are going to learn quickly how hard we punch back,” he said.
