And he is honored Maskappointed by the Republican president-elect Donald Trump In a senior government position, he received multi-billion dollar Department of Defense and Intelligence contracts as CEO of the company SpaceX For space and aviation.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, and Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Defense Inspector General that Musk’s involvement in these SpaceX programs should be investigated for possible exclusion from certain contracts and concessions. Following reports in October of his conversations with Russian officials.
“These ties between a known adversary of the United States and Mr. Musk, a beneficiary of billions of dollars in U.S. government funding, raise serious questions about Mr. Musk’s credibility as a government contractor and privy to classified information,” they said in a joint letter dated Friday.
Several Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for an investigation into Musk’s communications with… Moscow Since the Wall Street Journal reported last month on the alleged contact, but the letter to US officials who could order such an investigation has not been previously made public.
Shaheen and Reid’s call for a federal investigation is a long shot as Trump prepares to return to… The white house With the support of Musk, who spent more than $119 million on Trump’s election campaign, the president-elect appointed him co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency in the new administration.
Old connections
Reports of Musk’s contact with Russian officials emerged in 2022, when political scientist Ian Bremer, president of consulting firm Eurasia Group, said Musk told him he had spoken to Putin About the Ukraine war and the red line for Russia to use Nuclear weapons.
Musk denied Premier’s claim and said he spoke to Putin only 18 months ago about… outer space.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed American, European and Russian officials, reported that Musk had held multiple conversations with Russian officials including Putin and Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy presidential chief of staff.
Reid and Sahin stated in the letter that it was “extremely concerning” that Musk had conversations with Kiriyenko.
This year, the US Department of Justice accused Kiriyenko, along with other Russian officials, of leading a sponsored propaganda campaign With artificial intelligence On Musk’s social media platform X and other sites to promote Russian interests and influence voters ahead of the US presidential election.
Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, has become dominant in the space sector in the United States, and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Pentagon rely heavily on it.
