With Putin Calls, It’s More Clear Than Ever That Elon Musk Is a National Security Threat

It’s been a chaotic fewer days for tech billionaire Elon Musk. On Wednesday, the Justice Department warned him that his $1 cardinal giveaway to plaything authorities voters mightiness beryllium illegal. And past connected Thursday The Wall Street Journal broke the quality that Musk has been having backstage conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin for years.

According to the Journal, Musk has been chatting with Putin since 2022. The Journal based its reporting connected conversations with officials successful the U.S., Europe, and Russia. It’s been an unfastened concealed successful almighty governmental circles for years.

What bash the world’s richest antheral and a brutal authoritarian person to discuss? Quite a spot arsenic it turns out. They’ve chatted astir business, idiosyncratic issues, and the authorities of the world. Musk is an important authorities contractor with a information clearance and hands successful a batch of antithetic companies.

SpaceX unsocial has billions successful authorities contracts and immoderate of them are truthful delicate that the precise quality of them is classified, including 1 issued successful 2021 for $1.8 billion. Musk’s Starlink has proved an unthinkable battleground tool. The outer net work has been instrumental successful keeping lines of connection unfastened successful the warfare successful Ukraine.

Musk has donated much than a 1000 Starlink terminals to Kyiv and the Pentagon has footed the measure for hundreds more. But they don’t ever enactment similar they should. Last year, Ukrainian drone operators complained that the awesome to drones supra the Black Sea chopped retired arsenic they approached Russian-occupied Crimea.

Starlink has repeatedly said that its terminals are not meant to beryllium weapons of warfare and should beryllium reserved for civilian use. But the terminals support popping up successful Russia arsenic well, arriving determination from different countries. And Moscow has been utilizing them for war. When Starlink catches the rogue terminals, it cuts them off.

According to the Journal, Musk and Putin person chatted astir Starlink during their assorted backstage conversations. Putin asked Musk to not activate Starlink terminals successful Taiwan. He wanted the billionaire to bash it arsenic a idiosyncratic favour to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Again, Musk has a information clearance. He’s an important subject contractor who the Pentagon relies connected to efficiently behaviour the concern of war. He’s besides a reckless fool who has progressive himself with a overseas dictator and injected himself into home politics. The antheral is simply a national information risk, afloat stop.

And though the Pentagon has investigated him and reprimanded him implicit his nationalist and rumored cause use, it has yet to propulsion his information clearance. When Semafor asked NASA Administrator Bill Nelson astir the communicative connected Friday, Nelson said he’d mostly dealt with radical different than Musk and that SpaceX had been “phenomenally successful.” “I don’t cognize if that communicative is true. I deliberation it should beryllium investigated.” Nelson added. “If it’s existent determination person been aggregate conversations with Elon Musk and the president of Russia, past that would beryllium concerning, peculiarly for NASA and the Department of Defense, for immoderate of the quality agencies.

Asked astir the WSJ study connected Elon Musk's conversations with Putin, @SenBillNelson tells @burgessev:

"[SpaceX] person been phenomenally palmy … I don't cognize that that communicative is true. I deliberation it should beryllium investigated. If the communicative is existent … that would beryllium concerning." pic.twitter.com/5Mlo2AEDNx

— Semafor (@semafor) October 25, 2024

None of it whitethorn substance if Donald Trump becomes the adjacent president of the United States. And Musk is doing his damndest to marque that happen.

The billionaire has been spending wealth connected the Trump run similar it’s going retired of style. He’s ne'er been politically neutral, but he’s besides ne'er been this personally progressive successful a candidate. Through his America PAC and different offerings, Musk has shoveled an estimated $118.5 cardinal into the run since the summer.

Musk is besides offering $47 to registered plaything authorities voters consenting to motion a petition saying they’re successful enactment of escaped code and the Second Amendment. Signing the petition besides enters radical into a lottery with the accidental to triumph $1 million. Musk has promised he’ll springiness distant a immense currency prize to 1 petition signer each time until the predetermination arsenic helium attempts to marque himself into the Mr Beast of politics.

If that sounds weird and illegal, you’re not the lone 1 who thinks that. Only petition signers successful the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina are eligible for the payday. And though the petition and its rules aren’t explicit astir who those voters should formed a ballot for, it’s hard to ideate anyone signing doesn’t cognize who Musk would prefer.

After Musk announced the sweepstakes, the Justice Department sent a missive of warning to his America PAC. Justice told the PAC that the lottery whitethorn interruption national predetermination law. But Musk is inactive giving distant prizes. Last night, conscionable earlier 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, the America PAC published a representation of Jason Holland of Michigan holding a ample novelty check. Holland grinned successful his photograph supra a nexus directing radical to motion the petition.