Biden admin investigates Rumble: 'Playbook to try and destroy' free speech platform, CEO warns

The Biden administration's Securities and Exchange Commission recently confirmed to Wired that it is investigating free speech video platform Rumble.

According to the Monday report, Wired filed a public records request in November seeking documents related to Rumble but was denied by the SEC due to the in-progress investigation.

While the agency did not provide any information regarding the nature of the probe, it stated that the existence of the investigation was not an indication that Rumble had done anything illegal.

The SEC's assistant general counsel for litigation and administrative practice, Melinda Hardy, told Wired, "We have confirmed with Division of Enforcement staff that the investigation from which you seek records is still active and ongoing."

Turning over the requested document to the news outlet "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," Hardy explained.

In a statement to Wired, Rumble spokesperson Rory Rumore stated that the SEC requested documents from the company, which it turned over voluntarily.

"We caution anyone from jumping to false conclusions about matters related to Rumble," the company said.

In a post on X, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski claimed that the SEC launched the investigation following a false report from a "short seller."

"The playbook to try and destroy $RUM [Rumble]," Pavlovski wrote. "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 media happily writes the story."

"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 continued. "Good news, it won't work. We saw the attacks coming, and we prepared for them. Prior to going public, we chose to use Google Analytics to track and report our [monthly active users], so we could be ready for this very moment."

Pavlovski added, "This is just the start, they're coming for us in 2024. They can't stand Rumble's mission, but they are going to learn quickly how hard we punch back." Pavlovski noted that he is exploring the company's legal options.

According to Wired, investment research firm Culper Research released a report questioning Rumble's reported monthly active users.

"Combined, the web and app data suggest to us that Rumble has only 38 to 48 million unique users, and the Company has overstated its user base by 66% to 108%," Culper Research's report claimed.

The firm noted that it had taken a short position in the company and stood to profit if its stocks dropped.

Rumore denied claims that Rumble inflated the number of active monthly users and warned investors to be "especially dubious of rumors peddled by short sellers who are attempting to distort facts for their own financial benefit."

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