REVEALED: SEC in 'active and ongoing' investigation into Rumble

A new report has revealed that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has undertaken an investigation into the free speech video platform Rumble.  

In a report from Wired, Rumble and a letter from the SEC to the outlet have confirmed that the SEC is investigating the platform for allegedly inflating investor metrics.  

In a response to a public records request that the outlet had filed in November, Melinda Hardy, the SEC's assistant general counsel for litigation and administrative practice, wrote, “We have confirmed with Division of Enforcement staff that the investigation from which you seek records is still active and ongoing." 

Hardy wrote that the documents that had been requested as part of the FOIA request "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.” 

The Rumble spokesperson Rory Rumore told the outlet that the company had provided all information the SEC needed voluntarily when the government agency requested them for investigation.  

In addition, Rumore said, “We caution anyone from jumping to false conclusions about matters related to Rumble.”  

The SEC would not comment any further on the nature of the investigation.  

In May of 2021, the video platform had an estimated value of $500 million which has now grown to over $1.2 billion.  

Chris Pavlovski posted his thoughts about the investigation on X saying that it was a "playbook" move to "try and destroy Rumble." 

"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," Pavlovski wrote. "The report is bogus, but that doesn’t matter—it’s all to get investors to sell the stock so the short seller profits."