Elon Musk wears a black “Make America Great Again” hat with Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at Bart’s in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 2024 Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin visits his campaign headquarters in Moscow on March 18, 2024, during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show venue (left).
Gavriel Grigorov | AFP | Getty Images
Two senior Democratic senators said in a letter seen by Reuters on Friday that the Pentagon was at risk following reports that billionaire Elon Musk had multiple calls with Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin. and law enforcement agencies should conduct investigations on national security grounds.
Musk was appointed to senior government posts by Republican President-elect Donald Trump, overseeing billions of dollars in contracts for the Pentagon and the intelligence community as CEO of aerospace company SpaceX.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed told U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Pentagon inspector general that during the recent Following the reports, there should be an investigation into whether Musk could be banned and excluded from participating in these SpaceX projects. Prohibition means the exclusion of certain contracts and privileges.
“The relationship between a prominent U.S. adversary and Mr. Musk, a beneficiary of billions of dollars in U.S. government funding, raises serious questions about Mr. Musk’s reliability as a government contractor and clearance holder,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. question.
Several Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for an investigation into Musk’s ties to Moscow since the Wall Street Journal reported last month, but there have been no previously reported calls to U.S. officials who might launch such an investigation. letters.
Shaheen and Reid’s call for a federal investigation is unlikely as Trump prepares to return to the White House with the support of Musk, who spent more than $119 million on Trump’s re-election campaign and was appointed as the candidate. Co-director of the President’s upcoming department of Government Effectiveness.
SpaceX, Musk and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Pentagon and Justice Department did not immediately respond to similar requests.
Report on Russian Contact
Reports of Musk’s contacts with Russian officials emerged in 2022, when political scientist Ian Bremmer, president of the consulting firm Eurasia Group, said Musk told him he had discussed the Ukraine war with Putin and Russia’s red line on the use of nuclear weapons. Musk denied Bremer’s claims and said he only spoke to Putin about space issues 18 months ago.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed U.S., European and Russian officials, said Musk had held talks with Russian officials, including Putin and his first deputy chief of staff Sergey Kiriyenko. had many conversations.
In their letter, Shaheen and Reid said Musk’s reported conversations with Kiriyenko were “deeply concerning.” This year, he was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department along with other Russian officials for spearheading an artificial intelligence propaganda campaign on Musk’s social media platform X and other websites to promote Russian interests and influence voters ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Musk has publicly claimed that he has a U.S. security clearance to obtain secret information from SpaceX, which holds billions of dollars in launch contracts from the Pentagon and NASA. The company also has an intelligence community contract worth $1.8 billion to build a vast network of spy satellites, according to Reuters.
“Communications between Russian government officials and any individual with a security clearance could potentially put our security at risk,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
Space tensions between the United States and Russia have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Pentagon officials have denounced questionable maneuvers by Russian satellites in orbit and this year accused Russia of developing space-based nuclear weapons capable of disabling large satellite networks.
Musk’s SpaceX already dominates the U.S. aerospace industry and is heavily relied upon by NASA and the Pentagon.
The company’s Starlink network of nearly 7,000 satellites has made SpaceX the world’s largest satellite operator and a disruptive force in the field of satellite networks. The Pentagon has a strong interest in military communications. The Ukrainian military relies heavily on Starlink for battlefield connectivity.
Senators sent a separate letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Friday, saying Musk’s reported conversations raised the need for greater competition in the launch and satellite communications industries and used the More companies besides SpaceX to carry out sensitive national security missions.
“Mr. Musk’s reported conduct could pose serious risks to national security, and as the CEO of a company with billions of dollars in sensitive defense and intelligence contracts, it’s worth reconsidering SpaceX’s huge role in the (Defense Department’s) commercial space integration.” effect,” the legislator said.
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