Exclusive-Democratic senators ask Pentagon, US attorney general to probe Musk's alleged Russia calls

By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reports that billionaire Elon Musk has held multiple calls with Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, should be investigated by the Pentagon and law-enforcement agencies on national-security grounds, two senior Democratic senators said in a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

Musk, who has been appointed to a senior government role by Republican President-elect Donald Trump, oversees billions of dollars in Pentagon and intelligence-community contracts as CEO of aerospace company SpaceX.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior Foreign Relations Committee member, and Senate Armed Services Committee chair Jack Reed told U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Pentagon's inspector general that Musk's involvement in those SpaceX programs should be probed for potential debarment and exclusion after reports as recent as October of his conversations with Russian officials. Debarment refers to exclusion from certain contracts and privileges.

"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 lawmakers said in a joint letter dated on Friday.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-democratic-senators-ask-pentagon-174402646.html