Andrew Left Challenges Federal Charges: 'That's Not Manipulation'

Andrew Left, founder of Citron Research, appeared on CNBC's “Squawk Box” on Friday to address the federal charges against him.

The charges, which allege “bait and switch tactics” resulting in $20 million in ill-gotten profits, sparked debates on free speech, trading practices and market manipulation.

Left reflected on the timing of the investigation. “The moment the search warrant was issued was a day after the whole GameStop saga. So you can imagine it was a wonderful week of my life,” he said sarcastically.

He expressed both shock and relief upon seeing the indictment. "When the actual indictment came down, there was a sense of, oh my God, I'm being indicted. And then I read it and a sense of relief saying Tesla, Nvidia, Facebook, wait, I shorted these stocks."

The charges revolve around allegations that Left would publicize trading plans on platforms like Twitter only to act contrary to his statements. Addressing the allegations, he said: "I've never done the opposite. So the opposite in my opinion would be if I told you to buy and I turned around and shorted the stock. It was risk management."

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One example cited by prosecutors involved Nvidia Corp, a stock Left commented on in 2019. He recalled, "I said the words unrealistic price targets. By the way, since that, Nvidia is up I think 3,500%. The stock's 140. And I said, I think the stock's going to trade at 160. What part of that's unrealistic? And I sell it in the 150s."

Left also questioned the broader implications for market participants, noting, "Can you imagine if this is true, any guest on CNBC has to come on with their lawyer in the background, because I'm sure people are going to be discussing Nvidia 100 times today on TV. And if they change their opinion in the next two days and they sell it, are they committing a criminal act?"

Left insists that his work is grounded in facts.

"They don't accuse me ever of lying about companies. So it's not my opinion. If you put out fact and fact moves the market, that's not manipulation,” he said.

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Image created with a screenshot from Benzinga and background created via Midjourney.