Quote:A pair of Democratic senators called for a federal investigation into Elon Musk’s involvement in SpaceX’s federal contracts following reports the tech billionaire has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a letter sent Friday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said Musk’s reported relations with a U.S. adversary “pose serious questions” about his “reliability as a government contract and a clearance holder.”
Shaheen is a senior member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.
Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, holds contracts with the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community worth billions of dollars. He is also a “prime contractor” for the Space Force’s National Security Space program and holds a $1.8 billion classified contract with the National Reconnaissance Office, the lawmakers noted.
The tech entrepreneur has reportedly claimed he holds a U.S. security clearance as part of these federal agreements.
The letter comes after The Wall Street Journal reported last month Musk has been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. The two reportedly had various conversations on personal matters, business and geopolitical tensions, while sometimes involving other high-ranking Russian officials, including Putin’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko.
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/49...een-probe/
