The Pentagon is investigating whether Elon Musk and SpaceX have failed to inform federal agencies about the CEO’s activities and contact with foreign officials, which is required since SpaceX is a defense contractor.
As The New York Times reports, at least three federal agencies are looking into Musk: the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, the Air Force, and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
The last two investigations came about following an inquiry from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat who sits on the Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations. She wrote to the Air Force with “serious concerns” over a Wall Street Journal article about Musk being “in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.”
The Air Force recently denied Musk high-level security access, the NYT reports, though he has a top-secret clearance. People with these clearances are supposed to self-report their activities during the life of their clearances, including travel, meetings, or any drug use.
Teams at SpaceX that handle that reporting, meanwhile, have either been reluctant to push Musk to report in order to keep their jobs or complained to the DoD’s IG office themselves. Some who raised objections have been fired or pushed out, the NYT says.
On X, Musk responded to the story by saying: “Deep state traitors are coming after me, using their paid shills in legacy media. I prefer not to start fights, but I do end them.”
International allies are also worried about Musk, per the NYT, which cites nine countries in Europe and the Middle East. The Israeli Minister of Defense referred to Musk as a “wild card,” and officials are concerned Musk could pass sensitive data about Israel to others via Starlink. However, the country did eventually allow Starlink in the region.
This comes as Musk is poised to get insight into even more corners of the US federal government. President-elect Donald Trump has appointed him to an unofficial government body tasked with curbing wasteful spending in the government. Yesterday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote to Trump and urged him “to resolve [Musk’s] conflicts of interest.”
“Mr. Musk is no ordinary citizen,” Warren wrote. “He is the CEO of several companies that have significant interests before the federal government.”
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“Tesla has obtained nearly $42 million in government contracts to provide electric vehicles (EVs) and services to the government,” Warren writes. And SpaceX “has received nearly $20 billion in government contracts to provide crucial rocket launches, including missions to the International Space Station and placing national security satellites into orbit.”
She also expressed concern that Musk will be able to use his influence with Trump to scuttle investigations into labor violations, environmental issues, or trouble with self-driving car tech.
In response, a Trump rep resurrected a racist term. “Pocahontas can play political games and send toothless letters, but the Trump-Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible — a standard unfamiliar to a career politician whose societal impact is 1/1024th of Elon Musk’s,” she told The Washington Post.
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