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Mother Jones illustration. Don Emmert/AFP/Getty; Rafael Enrique/SOPA/ZUMA
pro-Trump faction The social media site, which launched with much fanfare less than three years ago, has laid off much of its staff and is nearing closure, current and former employees say.
Gettr, which was founded in 2021 as a MAGA-aligned alternative to Twitter, has been in trouble following the indictment and imprisonment of fugitive Chinese mogul Guo Wengui, but federal prosecutors have taken control of Gettr. They allege that Mr. Guo Wengui provided the funds with illegally obtained funds. Gettr also faces competition from Donald Trump’s Truth Social site, other right-wing social media sites, and X (formerly Twitter) following Elon Musk’s efforts to expand far-right accounts. There is.
“Everyone at Gettr has been fired,” one former employee said in a text message on condition of anonymity. A current employee, who also requested anonymity, said Gettr has been undergoing “massive layoffs” since January and currently does not have the funds to continue operating long-term. Gettr’s board has not approved a budget since December, leaving the company’s situation uncertain, the people said.
Gettr previously said the company has several hundred employees and contractors, many of whom work out of plush offices in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. Last July, the company announced that the number of users had exceeded 10 million. mother jones I couldn’t confirm those numbers.
Gettr CEO Ken Huang and former CEO and President Trump advisor Jason Miller noted: mother jones Robin Mochter, who recently resigned as the company’s chief financial officer, has been contacted for comment. Mr. Mokhtar did not answer questions.
Gettr was one of various media ventures once promoted by Mr. Guo, a self-proclaimed billionaire who made his fortune in Chinese real estate before fleeing to the United States in 2015 on charges of Chinese corruption and financial crimes. Ta. He denies any wrongdoing. Mr. Guo has sought political asylum in the United States, but has so far been unsuccessful. He has described himself as a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party and an ardent Trump supporter, a brand that has helped him connect with right-wing figures close to Trump. He had enthusiastic support from thousands of Chinese immigrants.
Guo began working closely with Steve Bannon in 2017. Mr. Guo paid large sums of money for advice on his various businesses, including Gettr.What the people involved said mother jones Last year, Mr. Getter paid Mr. Bannon’s War Room Broadcast $50,000 a month to ensure Mr. Bannon used the site as his primary social media outlet. Gettr acknowledged paying site fees to prominent right-wing figures, including Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk, Dinesh D’Souza, Jack Posobiec, and Andy Ngo.
Gettr was based on a social media application previously developed by Mr. Guo, and its technical staff consisted mostly of Chinese-speaking contractors working for companies with ties to Mr. Guo. But Mr. Gettle, at Mr. Guo’s direct direction, sought to downplay Mr. Guo’s influence and instead emphasized the role of Mr. Miller and other former Trumpworld figures who held positions at the company. While working as his CEO of Gettr, Mr. Miller claimed that Mr. Guo was merely an investor in his Gettr and was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. mother jones Officials such as Mr. Guo have revealed that he had great influence over the company. Miller left Gettr last February to work as a senior adviser to President Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Federal prosecutors indicted Guo last March on charges of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from supporters in the Chinese diaspora under the guise of investments in various business projects. Mr. Guo has maintained his innocence but has been imprisoned ever since, based on prosecutors’ claims that he poses a serious flight risk if released on bail.
In court filings after Guo’s arrest, federal prosecutors said he “controlled” Gettr “through a series of shell companies.” Prosecutors seized more than $300 million from bank accounts tied to Hamilton Opportunity Fund, nominally Mr. Gettle’s main investor, and claimed the funds came from the proceeds of Mr. Guo’s fraud. Hamilton is a Hong Kong-based investment fund founded by William Jie, who was indicted along with Guo. Jae is currently on the run. Prosecutors said they believe Mr. Je is somewhere in the United Arab Emirates. The third defendant in the case, Yvette Wang, was also a longtime close ally of Mr. Guo and held an executive role at Gettr. She also maintains her innocence and remains jailed without bail.
Gettr is now effectively run by Guo’s longtime lawyer, Aaron Mitchell, said a person familiar with Gettr’s operations. “Mitchell has been a unique board member” since Miller left in February 2023 to work for Trump, a former employee said. Mitchell did not respond to requests for comment.
In indicting Mr. Guo, prosecutors revealed that they had previously seized $2.7 million from an account marked Gettr USA. Last week, a U.S. trustee filed a motion to recover $21 million in funds that Geter received from Hamilton in a federal bankruptcy case in Connecticut, where Guo is seeking Chapter 11 protection from creditors. .
The trustee is also seeking the return of $353,000 that another company run by Mr. Guo allegedly paid Mr. Miller. The payment appears to have been part of Mr. Miller’s compensation as CEO of Gettr. Mr. Miller declined to comment on the trustee’s filing. The bankruptcy trustee also seeks to recover $270,000 that the same company allegedly paid to Warroom Broadcasting and Media Communications and $250,000 that another Guo company paid to Bannon Strategic Advisors. A complaint has also been filed. In a separate complaint, the trustees sought restitution of about $264,000 paid to Fox News by one of the companies controlled by Mr. Guo.
The public portion of these bankruptcy court filings also includes sealed attachments, which do not specify the dates or purposes of these payments. The filing alleges that the transactions were part of a fraud perpetrated by Mr. Guo and his co-defendants, but does not allege any wrongdoing by the recipients of the funds. Bannon and Fox News did not respond to requests for comment.
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