Senate Democrats Push For Investigation Into Musk’s Alleged Calls With Russia

Two Democratic senators urged the Pentagon and federal law enforcement Friday to investigate Elon Musk’s alleged communications with Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, citing national security concerns.

Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, addressed their concerns to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Pentagon’s inspector general. The request detailed in a letter points out Musk’s role as CEO of SpaceX, a contractor overseeing billions in U.S. defense and intelligence projects.

They called for an inquiry into whether Musk’s dealings with Russian officials merit debarment—a process that would bar him from certain government contracts.

“These relationships between a well-known U.S. adversary and Mr. Musk, a beneficiary of billions of dollars in U.S. government funding, pose serious questions regarding Mr. Musk’s reliability as a government contractor and a clearance holder,” the senators wrote. “We urgently call upon the U.S. government to open an investigation up to and including a determination by the senior debarment official of the Department of Defense, consistent with section 4654 of title 10 United States Code, to determine whether this behavior should force a review of Mr. Musk’s continued involvement in SpaceX’s varying contracts with the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.”

Reports of Musk’s interactions with Russian officials date back to 2022, when political scientist Ian Bremmer alleged Musk had discussed Russia