Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman's top political advisor has cast doubt on the veracity of Saturday's assault on Trump, speculating that it may have been "staged." 

This comes after Hoffman had already come under fire for mocking Trump about becoming a "martyr" in the days leading up to the incident, as Semafor reported.

Following publication of this report, consultant Dmitri Mehlhorn issued an apology, explaining that the email outlining his accusations had been "drafted without consultation from team members or allies."

A Gathering of Influence

At this week's billionaire gathering in Sun Valley, LinkedIn founder and rumored net worth $2.5 billion Hoffman remarked that he wished he had made Trump "an actual martyr."

This was contradicted by his comments on X, in which he said he was “horrified and saddened” by the attack.

The donor's comments are particularly disturbing, considering how much money he appears to be putting toward the election.

While the exact details about his donations are as yet unknown, during a private conference call Hoffman said that “Reid and I have invested nine figures of our own money to prevent Trump from getting back into office.”

Strategist's Own Words

The most incriminating comments were made by the megadonor in an email on Saturday evening, just hours after the shooting.

The email was sent to sympathetic journalists, and Mehlhorn wrote that one “possibility -- which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally -- is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash."

"This is a classic Russian tactic, such as when Putin killed 300 civilians in 1999 and blamed it on terrorists to ride the backlash to winning power. Others who have embraced this tactic of committing raw evil and then benefitting from the backlash include Hamas on October 7," he went on.

"If any Trump officials encouraged or knew of this attack, that is morally horrific, and Republicans of decency must demand that Trump step down as unfit,” he continued.

Another Theory

That wasn't the end of the theories flowing out toward Democrat sympathizers, and Mehlhorn wrote, “is that some crazy anti-Trumper in this chaotic moment decided to assassinate the former President.”

It was evident that Mehlhorn, who co-founded a fund called "Investing in US" with Hoffman, was inclined toward the false flag theory.

“I know I am prone to bias on this, but this is a classic Putin play and given the facts seems more plausible. Look at the actual shot. Look at the staging. Look at how ready Trump is to rally; this pampered baby shit his pants when an eagle lunged at his food," he said.

"Look at how quickly Trump protects himself at the expense of others, but showed few of those lifelong instincts in this moment. And consider how often Putin and his allies run this play,” he added.

He continued: “I know it feels yucky to discuss such a possibility. But in this case, the odds are so high, and the stakes so consequential, we must as[k] the question.”