"Paypal mafia" tech billionaire and Facebook board member Peter Thiel was awfully secretive about funding Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against the media company Gawker (over, it would appear, an article drawing attention to Thiel's seemingly open-secret sexuality). By contrast, Thiel has made much less of a secret of his support of Donald Trump, for whom he is a pledged delegate. Now, Gawker asks, has Thiel once again attempted to silence their news outlet, now on his favorite subject? Could this be his latest act of so-called "philanthropy?" Read on.

In a devastating and lengthy investigation that published the same day as news of Thiel's involvement in the suit against Gawker broke, Ashley Feinberg, a writer for Gawker, asked perspicaciously: "Is Donald Trump’s Hair a $60,000 Weave?" Well, is it? In the piece, she points (very convincingly, if I may say so) to the idea that Trump's strange coiffure is "a little-known, patented hair restoration treatment called a 'microcylinder intervention.'" Her main piece of evidence is circumstantial but persuasive: The fact that a company performing the procedure operated from the "private floor reserved for Donald Trump’s own office."

Allegations that Trump's hairdo is, in fact a “cotton candy hairspray labyrinth" led to backlash from none other than Thiel's lawyer in the Hogan case against Gawker, Charles J. Harder. Of that, Gawker writes that "Harder’s demands included the immediate removal of the story from Gawker, a public apology, the preservation of 'all physical and electronic documents, materials and data in your possession related' to the story, and, notably, that we reveal our sources."

Gawker points out that Thiel's fingerprints aren't necessarily on this case, and this, they write, is part of the issue. It's "a savvy strategy for a publicity-averse billionaire. By refusing to disclose which other lawsuits his money has touched, Thiel is able to publicly embrace PR victories (such as the Hogan case ) while distancing himself from litigation that would expose him to criticism."

Data wizard and future forecaster Nate Silver's prediction? This stinks. Previously, he's implied Facebook should drop Thiel from its board.

Previously: Will Peter Thiel's Secret Funding Of Gawker Lawsuit Jeopardize His Facebook Board Seat?
Silicon Valley Billionaire Peter Thiel Secretly Funded Hulk Hogan V. Gawker Suit
Peter Thiel Calls Funding Hulk Hogan v. Gawker Lawsuit 'Philanthropic'