Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Donald Trump’s popular Truth Social channel, has asked Congress to investigate whether “potential manipulation” of the company’s shares may have led to the price collapse.

Former Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, the current CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, sent a letter to four House committee chairs — Judiciary, Appropriations, Financial Services, and Oversight and Reform — on Wednesday, April 23, urging them to review this “urgent matter.” The company trades under the ticker symbol “DJT.”

“In our assessment, there is strong evidence of unlawful manipulation of the DJT inventory,” Nunes wrote.

He wrote that DJT was “by far the most expensive stock to short” on April 3, meaning brokers have a “significant financial incentive to lend out nonexistent shares.” Mr. Nunes said there was evidence of “naked” short selling, or selling shares without first borrowing them.

Data showed that “four market participants” – Citadel Securities, VIRTU Americas, G1 Execution Services and Jane Street Capital – were responsible for more than 60 percent “of the extraordinary volume of DJT shares traded,” the CEO claimed.

He called on congressional leaders to investigate the “anomalous trading of DJT” to determine whether laws had been violated, including “RICO laws and tax evasion laws.”

Mr Nunes insisted that this investigation was necessary to “protect shareholders”.

When the company went public on March 26 under the ticker symbol DJT, the opening price was around $70 per share. On April 25, the share price was about half that, at $35.

A Citadel spokesperson told CNBC: “Devin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame his falling stock price on ‘naked short selling.’

“Nunes is exactly the kind of person Donald Trump would have shot The Apprentice. If he (Nunes) worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him.”

Mr. Trump is the majority shareholder of Trump Media & Technology Group.