House Television via AP
- Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon invested between $1,000 and $15,000 in Trump's new social media venture.
- But on Jan 7, he blamed Trump's "dangerous rhetoric" for inciting an insurrection.
- Bucshon joins far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as being among the first to invest in the SPAC.
Republican Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana, who unequivocally condemned former President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection the day after it happened, is now the 2nd House Republican to invest in Trump's new social media venture.
That's according to new financial disclosures filed with the House Clerk and signed by the Indiana Republican on Monday, which reveal that he invested between $1,000 and $15,000 dollars in Digital World Acquisition Corp, the SPAC for Trump's "TRUTH Social" media company.
CNBC reported that it's the first investment Bucshon has disclosed since 2013. He joins Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the first member of congress to invest in the company, who spent between $15,000 and $50,000 on stock purchases.
It's a surprising reversal for the Indiana congressman, who's served in the House since 2011. On January 7th, Bucshon released a statement blaming Trump for inciting an insurrection.
"I cannot condone this dangerous rhetoric by the President," Bucshon said at the time. "Words have meaning and many of the President's supporters took him literally, resulting in the attempted insurrection."
He also said that he'd planned to object to state's electoral votes, but changed his mind after the storming of the Capitol.
"I was prepared to join some of my colleagues in objecting to certain states that clearly had election process issues and/or questions of concern in order to further the debate on a path forward-until today," he said. "Due to this, along with the actions of the President yesterday and his harsh unfounded criticism of my friend Vice President Mike Pence, I have voted against the objections to the Electoral College votes legally submitted by the states."
Bucshon would later vote against impeaching Trump for his offense, arguing that a "partisan impeachment is the last thing that our nation needs at this time - which is why I could not support it."
Trump announced the launch of TRUTH Social last month, touting it as a way to "stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech." Trump was removed from Twitter and Facebook after inciting the insurrection on January 6.
The app is currently available for pre-order on Apple's App Store, and is set to launch an on invitee-only basis this month. It will then become public in the first quarter of 2022.
"We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced," Trump said in his statement announcing the launch. "Everyone asks me why doesn't someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon!"
The platform will be launched by a new company called Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which will go public via a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Digital World Acquisition Corp., which Greene invested in.
Insider reported that the new company's terms of services forbid users from doing anything to "disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site."
Bucshon's office did not respond to a request for comment asking exactly how much his investment was worth, why he made it, and whether he intends to join the new platform when it launches.