Senate Democrats seek inquiry into Elon Musk’s reported Russia contacts

Two leading Senate Democrats have requested an investigation into Elon Musk’s reported interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his senior officials. These legislators have pressed the Pentagon and the Justice Department to assess if Musk’s alleged dealings with a US adversary, while simultaneously holding significant government contracts, pose a risk to national security. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the world’s wealthiest individual has engaged in “multiple, high level conversations” with Putin since 2022, a claim the Kremlin has refuted. On Friday, Musk posted on his X platform, stating, “I’m going to find out who’s making these accusations and nuke them”. The two Democratic senators, Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior Democrat on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, dispatched a letter on Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Defence Department Inspector General Robert Storch. The letter expressed “serious questions regarding Mr Musk’s reliability as a government contractor and a [security] clearance holder”. The multi-billionaire asserts possession of a top-secret level clearance, and his company, SpaceX, a primary contractor for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), is extensively integrated into the federal government’s defence and intelligence framework. “Russia’s ambitions in the space domain pose a direct threat to US national security,” the senators stated in their correspondence. Senators Reed and Shaheen observed that, in contrast to other individuals holding high-level security clearances, Musk seemingly does not disclose his interactions with foreign government officials. They highlighted Musk’s purported communications with Sergei Kiriyenko, Putin’s deputy chief of staff. The Justice Department has indicated that Kiriyenko and other senior officials participated in an initiative to disseminate Kremlin propaganda via social media, including on the Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) platform, with the aim of diminishing international support for Ukraine and influencing voters in the US presidential election. Musk, who financially supported Trump’s successful 2024 election campaign with millions of dollars, was selected by the president-elect earlier this week to head a newly established Department of Government Efficiency. Furthermore, he has taken part in the incoming president’s diplomatic endeavors. Over the past week, Musk joined Trump’s calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and also attended a meeting with Argentinian President Javier Milei at Trump’s Florida residence. On Friday, CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that Musk recently visited the New York residence of Iran’s United Nations ambassador. Whether Trump or his national security team had knowledge of this meeting remains unclear. Washington lacks diplomatic ties with Tehran, and Iran’s foreign minister denied on Saturday that any such encounter occurred. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.