CREW sued over President Trump's unconstitutional scheme to charge $100,000 per month for advance access to official government announcements on Truth Social

this isn’t just another Trump corruption story

• CREW News 

  From:info@citizensforethics.org

  
  

  To:Mark M Giese

  Thu, Aug 13 at 2:15 PM

  Mark, Yesterday, CREW sued to stop President Trump’s unconstitutional scheme to charge $100,000 per month for advance access to official government announcements on Truth Social. Now, our lawsuit is making headlines around the world: BBC: Trump sued over Truth Social's $100,000 early access service New York Times: Suit challenges plan to sell early access to Trump’s Truth Social posts Le Monde: Trump sued over sale of access to Truth Social posts Mark, this attention is because this isn’t just another Trump corruption story. It’s a scheme that could let the wealthiest people and corporations pay for an advantage over everyone else—giving paying subscribers access to market-moving government information before the public gets it. Corruption is the entire business model of this scheme. Profiteering like this cannot go unanswered, which is why we sued alongside our partners yesterday. Charging for early access to the president’s public statements violates the Constitution. Period. We’re standing up for a more ethical government that works for everyone—not just the wealthy few. Thanks, Mark. You can read more about our lawsuit in the message below

 

Donald Sherman, CREW HQ

 

From:info@citizensforethics.org

To:Mark M Giese

Wed, Aug 12 2026 at 1:29 PM

Mark, This morning, CREW sued to stop President Trump's unconstitutional scheme to charge $100,000 per month for advance access to official government announcements on Truth Social. Our lawsuit outlines how Trump’s scheme to charge $100,000 per month for advance access to official government announcements on Truth Social violates the First and Fifth Amendments, making this latest grift unconstitutional. Mark, let’s be clear: Nothing could be more antithetical to democracy and the free, independent press than the president charging for early access to his public announcements. We’re committed to upholding the Constitution and blocking Trump’s corrupt scheme. In 2021, Trump launched Trump Media & Technology Group. Trump Media subsequently released Truth Social, a social media platform over which Trump could exercise complete control, in 2022. Since returning to office, Trump has used his Truth Social account as his primary means of communicating with the public and making official announcements, encompassing everything from agency appointments and firings to military actions and foreign policy. Last month, the CEO of Truth Social’s parent company announced Truth API, a service that would give investors early access to “market-moving” messages including from the account of the president and other government officials—for up to $100,000 a month. At the same time, the company announced it would take steps to prevent users from systematically gathering posts from the platform. Truth API launched August 1 and has already signed up ten customers. Mark, our lawsuit makes it very clear: this scheme is unconstitutional. Granting preferential access to Trump’s public statements to paid subscribers violates the First Amendment, which guarantees Americans equal access to the president’s public announcements. The Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from imposing extortionate or unreasonable conditions on the availability of government benefits. That’s why we’re asking the court to bar Trump and White House employees from carrying out this unconstitutional scheme. And there’s another disturbing reality: Truth API isn’t just a power grab—it’s a profit opportunity for Trump personally. Trump owns the largest stake in Trump Media through The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which holds approximately 41.43% of Trump Media’s shares, which are collectively worth more than $1 billion. He is the sole beneficiary of the trust. In other words, Trump is exploiting his office and trampling the Constitution to enrich himself. It’s obscene. All Americans are entitled to timely access to their president’s public statements, not just those willing to pay the president’s company $100,000 a month. That’s why CREW and our partners are proud to represent The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation in their effort to end this corrupt and unconstitutional scheme.