Two prime Democratic senators are asking the Pentagon and the Justice Division to research billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk’s reported contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and different prime Russian officers in recent times.
Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Companies Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a prime member of the Senate Armed Companies and Overseas Relations Committees, wrote a letter to Protection Division Inspector Normal Robert Storch and Lawyer Normal Merrick Garland Friday, urging them to find out whether or not Musk’s reported contacts with the Russians ought to pressure a assessment of the federal authorities’s contracts along with his firm, SpaceX. Reuters was first to report the request.
The Wall Avenue Journal reported in October that Musk has been in common contact with Putin since late 2022, and that Putin requested Musk to activate his Starlink satellite tv for pc web program over Taiwan for Chinese language President Xi Jinping. SpaceX didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Shaheen and Reed expressed concern that giving a safety clearance to somebody with a reported historical past of Russian communications may pose a nationwide safety threat.
“These relationships between a widely known U.S. adversary and Mr. Musk, a beneficiary of billions of {dollars} in U.S. authorities funding, pose critical questions relating to Mr. Musk’s reliability as a authorities contractor and a clearance holder,” the senators wrote.
The world’s richest man has turn out to be an in depth ally of President-elect Donald Trump in current months, giving over $130 million to assist elect him, campaigning and touring with him, and weighing in on Cupboard picks. Trump introduced earlier this week that he is tapping Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to guide a brand new Division of Authorities Effectivity.
CBS Information additionally reported Friday that Musk just lately met with Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, on the ambassador’s residence in New York, based on two sources aware of the assembly. The U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran.
The senators additionally despatched a separate letter to Air Drive Secretary Frank Kendall, expressing their concern that the Area Drive’s reliance on SpaceX may additionally have an effect on nationwide safety.
Eleanor Watson,
and
Margaret Brennan
contributed to this report.
