Locke that's the point what the Kramer brothers do is not legal. They will do anything to make money legal or not. They have both been in trouble before for illegal activities. As far as your saying it's legal for them to short a stock it is not. Yes it is legal for a person or company to short a stock. But it's not legal to short a stock in such a way you end up getting more shares than you otherwise would have on a loan you made to the company. That is manipulation and against the SEC rules. You are the one who is naive if you don't know all this. But I am quite certain you do know it.
https://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/...0540410863
https://www.securitieslawyer101.com/2014/finr...terprises/
https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pres...mentpr.pdf