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malaise

(283,783 posts)
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:14 AM Mar 17

Democrats demand investigation into Musk over possible criminal corruption

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/17/democrats-elon-musk-investigation

Leading Democrats on Monday demanded an investigation of possible criminal corruption involving Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and world’s richest man tasked by Donald Trump with slashing the federal government.

The investigation should involve “the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to cancel a $2.4bn contract with Verizon to upgrade air traffic control communications, and to pay … Musk’s Starlink to help manage US airspace”, senators Chris Van Hollen, Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren wrote to Pam Bondi, the attorney general, and Mitch Behm, acting inspector general of the transportation department.

“We ask that the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice investigate the scope of Mr Musk’s activities at the FAA,” the senators said.

An investigation, the letter said, would determine whether Musk, “in his capacity as a special government employee in the White House … has participated in any particular matter in which he has a financial interest, which would violate the criminal conflict-of-interest statute”.
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Democrats demand investigation into Musk over possible criminal corruption (Original Post) malaise Mar 17 OP
Has George Soros moved back into first place. multigraincracker Mar 17 #1
Soros isn't in the top 100 FBaggins Mar 17 #28
Good to do -- before he mines all the data he stole. Kid Berwyn Mar 17 #2
Is Elon Musk A Security Risk ?(Article in The Hill) Grumpy Old Woman Mar 17 #3
Thanks for the link malaise Mar 17 #8
That's a joke Tickle Mar 17 #4
For his term to be over, though, all election tabulators will have to be recoded & firewalled by 2028. ancianita Mar 17 #11
YES, you are right, but according to the interviewee in the video link below, the FIX is already in for the mid-terms... usaf-vet Mar 17 #17
"But" nothing. If I'm right, then WE have to be the ones to send in the re-coders & firewall installations by midterms. ancianita Mar 17 #21
YES YES YES, we are on the same page. If you get to watch video. It also makes the case that the flipping of votes..... usaf-vet Mar 17 #23
I saw the end. I believe you. But new swing state laws that require all elections to be audited should override that ancianita Mar 17 #25
🤞🤞 🤞 🤞 usaf-vet Mar 17 #29
And he'll pardon everyone on the way out tishaLA Mar 17 #14
Using his Autopen, of course jmowreader Mar 17 #35
An "investigation" is so - so ...2024. rubbersole Mar 17 #5
Yeah, I'm sure AG Pam Bondi will get right on it. surfered Mar 17 #6
How about declaring him a domestic enemy and call for his immediate arrest. Be pro active. nt Hotler Mar 17 #7
That's coming sooner than many think n/t malaise Mar 17 #9
What part of government can do that? How long will it take the military to see the Constitution needs defending? ancianita Mar 17 #30
Every elected politician in Washington. They all took an oath to protect and defend Hotler Mar 17 #36
Are you sure? That oath sits within their branch of govt, but how do you know they'd have standing? ancianita Mar 17 #37
I'm no lawyer either. A part of me thinks our side is still pretending that gentlemanly politics still work. Hotler Mar 18 #43
Whoa! I LIKE that, Hotler!! slightlv Mar 17 #38
Does anyone think that ANY republican will cross over and insist that this be done? Autumn Mar 17 #10
And all they'll get... 2naSalit Mar 17 #12
Possible corruption? The guy's blatantly using his position to enrich himself. patphil Mar 17 #13
"One of the most corrupt..." James48 Mar 17 #15
I stand corrected! patphil Mar 17 #20
Good. Keep doing this! It's a small tool that could cause voters to start pressuring their reps to act. chowder66 Mar 17 #16
LOL DENVERPOPS Mar 17 #18
yes, and demanding action from PAM BONDI, a mega Trump whore Skittles Mar 17 #33
Maybe a state Attorney General could launch an investigation into Musk's corruption. sop Mar 17 #19
Yes, that's the only way to hold this corrupt administration accountable. Liberty Belle Mar 17 #22
You Are Right On Baron2024 Mar 17 #34
Correct malaise Mar 17 #24
ANGH. n/t flvegan Mar 17 #26
We should file articles of impeachment against musk, just for the hell of it Walleye Mar 17 #27
Lol! I like it. It carries on with the meme slightlv Mar 17 #39
I think someone misspelled "probable," Fam Montauk6 Mar 17 #31
Musk BOUGHT HIMSELF A PRESIDENT Skittles Mar 17 #32
...POSSIBLE criminal corruption? Karasu Mar 18 #40
One of the first things we should do if we ever get serious power again SunImp Mar 18 #41
has anyone seen this? MangoMoose Mar 18 #42

FBaggins

(28,088 posts)
28. Soros isn't in the top 100
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 01:12 PM
Mar 17

Musk often gains or loses Soros' entire net worth in a single day.

Bezos and Zuckerberg are next in line

Kid Berwyn

(20,258 posts)
2. Good to do -- before he mines all the data he stole.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:35 AM
Mar 17

Then Hugo Drax will buy all the robots he will ever need and have the US taxpayers pay for the privilege.

Tickle

(4,076 posts)
4. That's a joke
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:51 AM
Mar 17

Trump owns the DOJ. When Trumps term is over they all better leave the country. Maybe the Saudis will take them

ancianita

(40,426 posts)
11. For his term to be over, though, all election tabulators will have to be recoded & firewalled by 2028.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 10:28 AM
Mar 17

usaf-vet

(7,480 posts)
17. YES, you are right, but according to the interviewee in the video link below, the FIX is already in for the mid-terms...
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 11:53 AM
Mar 17

...... they need to be purged of any software and /or hardware (it's possible that one chip swapped out could contain the routine to flip votes) and have a clean company-certified installation of all necessary software/hardware before the Democrats are likely to have any chance of winning critical national elections in the swing states again. LISTEN TO THE END OF THE VIDEO.

THIS HAS BEEN THE GOP's PLAN SINCE 2000 (Bush v Gore). They needed a nationwide cluster of connected networks to engineer and calculate where to alter the election results.

Please don't bother telling me I'm crazy or don't know what I'm talking about. I have heard it all before, maybe from Russian bots or delusional cultists. So be it!

Someday, the truth will be out at 78; I will likely not be around to say I told you so unless I have my material grandparents' genes. They lived into their late 90s.

ancianita

(40,426 posts)
21. "But" nothing. If I'm right, then WE have to be the ones to send in the re-coders & firewall installations by midterms.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 12:05 PM
Mar 17

AND while that's happening -- for right now this year -- we MUST codify immediate state paper trail audits in every swing state so that the paper trail audits begin immediately after the votes are "called" in the midterms, as a dry run for 2028.

Too damn bad if the certifications take longer, or some officials make "mistakes." They will all have to follow the new paper trail audit laws and timeline.

usaf-vet

(7,480 posts)
23. YES YES YES, we are on the same page. If you get to watch video. It also makes the case that the flipping of votes.....
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 12:39 PM
Mar 17

...... stops so they don't trip the automatic recount point in each swing state.

ancianita

(40,426 posts)
25. I saw the end. I believe you. But new swing state laws that require all elections to be audited should override that
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 12:55 PM
Mar 17

and correct that mechanical trick.

tishaLA

(14,625 posts)
14. And he'll pardon everyone on the way out
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 11:21 AM
Mar 17

If there is a way out.

It's complete lawlessness.

rubbersole

(9,765 posts)
5. An "investigation" is so - so ...2024.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:56 AM
Mar 17

Well, I guess it beats a strongly worded letter from the office of the Minority Leader.

surfered

(6,567 posts)
6. Yeah, I'm sure AG Pam Bondi will get right on it.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:57 AM
Mar 17

I think the Justice Department will be just too busy prosecuting Trump’s political enemies and those Tesla protesters

Hotler

(13,067 posts)
7. How about declaring him a domestic enemy and call for his immediate arrest. Be pro active. nt
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:59 AM
Mar 17

ancianita

(40,426 posts)
30. What part of government can do that? How long will it take the military to see the Constitution needs defending?
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 01:29 PM
Mar 17

Hotler

(13,067 posts)
36. Every elected politician in Washington. They all took an oath to protect and defend
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 09:03 PM
Mar 17

against all enemies foreign and domestic. Their oath is their leverage. That has to have some weight in court. Each congressional/senate Dem go to the mic and speak, "I raise today to honor my oath of office and declare DJT and E. Musk domestic enemies and call for immediate arrest for attempting another coup and violating the constitution or some other shit. Then sit back and let the fascist melt down. It could be priceless.
Or, get all of them out on the steps as one and make the statement or something similar.
Now would be a good time to test the water, throw something against the wall and see if it sticks.
The late John Lewis said get into good trouble.

ancianita

(40,426 posts)
37. Are you sure? That oath sits within their branch of govt, but how do you know they'd have standing?
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 10:00 PM
Mar 17

Or if they did, even evidence?

I think that congressman Eric Swalwell's suit against Trump is pending while the felon is president. Maybe he has reason that other congress people don't. Not being a lawyer, I'll bet there's a reason (you might not have thought of ) why the congress people who ARE lawyers have not done what Swalwell did.

I like your hard driving optimism about fighting for justice... I'm with you, I believe in good trouble and we need it as of yesterday ... but there must be a legal reason why ( something about legal immunity) they're not filing lawsuits, imho. They're smart people, so it can't just be that they haven't thought of these things.

Hotler

(13,067 posts)
43. I'm no lawyer either. A part of me thinks our side is still pretending that gentlemanly politics still work.
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 09:19 AM
Mar 18

I say do it just to start trouble and piss the fascist off. Going before the mic and calling them domestic enemies and call for their arrest might start the national conversation that they are enemies and start shouts of "LOCK THEM UP-LOCK THEM UP" everywhere.
Just like they did to Hillary.

Be well

slightlv

(5,456 posts)
38. Whoa! I LIKE that, Hotler!!
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 11:14 PM
Mar 17

We've been looking at this like elections and impeachments are the only remedies we have. Instead of giving in to the repugs, what if Schumer had a petition signed by (at least) all democratic senators, reps, and movers and shakers declaring WAR on him. After all, it is congress who is suppose to declare war. Oh, it'll get laughed at... but if there's enough pre-planning with judges, sympathetic police, write-ups, and protests held in favor of it, I'll bet it wouldn't be ignored.

Autumn

(47,774 posts)
10. Does anyone think that ANY republican will cross over and insist that this be done?
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 10:28 AM
Mar 17

I don't. But if the Republicans wanted to investigate Biden or his son there would be enough Democrats to insist that would get done. This movie is stuck on repeat.

patphil

(7,775 posts)
13. Possible corruption? The guy's blatantly using his position to enrich himself.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 10:41 AM
Mar 17

In less than 2 months the Trump administration has already established itself as one of the most corrupt of all time.

chowder66

(10,499 posts)
16. Good. Keep doing this! It's a small tool that could cause voters to start pressuring their reps to act.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 11:41 AM
Mar 17

It also places pressure on republicans who may have issues with Musk just by announcing it.

It may feel impossible but it's something.

Liberty Belle

(9,660 posts)
22. Yes, that's the only way to hold this corrupt administration accountable.
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 12:09 PM
Mar 17

Trump has immunity but Musk and others doing the dirty work do not. States must step up and file criminal charges, not just civil lawsuits.

 

Baron2024

(1,492 posts)
34. You Are Right On
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 08:42 PM
Mar 17

The sooner state AGs file criminal charges against Musk and his DOGE crew the better.

slightlv

(5,456 posts)
39. Lol! I like it. It carries on with the meme
Mon Mar 17, 2025, 11:18 PM
Mar 17

that the real acting president is Musk and his inactive vp is trump. I think that was a winning combo, if only it had been kept up. There ARE things that can shame and humiliate these people. It's not the same type of things that would effect us... but anything that diminishes them in from of and in the eyes of the people they wish to emulated... the real movers and shakers of New York, for example, or the tech bros for Elon, would be to the good!

SunImp

(2,479 posts)
41. One of the first things we should do if we ever get serious power again
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 03:05 AM
Mar 18

Doing an investigation now doesn't seem like it'll do much.

MangoMoose

(8 posts)
42. has anyone seen this?
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 08:57 AM
Mar 18

*DARK MAGA*

If you're a little confused about what Musk is trying to achieve with DOGE, here's the breakdown:

Elon Musk and Peter Thiel cofounded a company that became PayPal.

Other executives at PayPal went on to found or lead other huge tech companies including YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Affirm, and many VC firms.

This group became known as the PayPal mafia because they basically controlled Silicon Valley.

Peter Thiel mentored a young JD Vance and helped him get set up in his first VC firm.

Peter Thiel and the PayPal mafia funded JD Vance's successful Senate run. Amazing because he had absolutely zero political experience.

Thiel and Musk all but forced Trump to choose JD Vance as VP in exchange for funding his presidential campaign.

The three of them, plus a lot of other tech billionaires subscribe to an ideology called the Dark Enlightenment espoused by this super weird, creepy dude: Curtis Yarvin aka Mencius Moldbug.

Yarvin preaches that the media and academia represent "The Cathedral" that secretly controls power and must be dismantled.

He advocates for a corporate run, monarchy, led by a CEO-Dictator.

Says that Democracy is an "outdated software" and openly opposes it and that:
- Government agencies should be dismantled and The U.S. should be broken up into "patchworks" controlled by tech oligarchs.
- That the elite tech billionaires should rule because they have the intelligence to "fix" society
- That the "masses are asses" too dumb to govern themselves.

The strategy is to gut the government via R.A.G.E - Retire All Govt Employees to make government incapable of operating.

Then to replace government with private corporations.

To eliminate elections because they are "obsolete"

To use distraction and chaos to prevent public resistance.

Trump is their useful tool to be disposed of as soon as they can wrest control.

This is why Elon wears a black MAGA hat. They are not Trump supporters, they are "Dark MAGA"

This isn't a hypothetical. The plan is already in motion:
- Musk, Thiel, and their network are actively dismantling democratic institutions.
- JD Vance, the “MAGA heir,” is being positioned to help implement this transition.
- The public is too distracted to realize what’s happening.
- If successful, democracy in America will be permanently replaced by a corporate-run authoritarian state.
-----------------------------------
That's it. Now that you understand that you can see how everything that's happening fits within that lens.

Now the only question is what do we do about it?

That's my Dark Ted Talk. Thanks for listening.
-----------------------------------
Sources:
Shane Almgren, Author of "The Trumpland Diaries"
https://lnkd.in/eCHvt4Cj
The Financial Times
https://lnkd.in/ed_7Fv8Q
The New Yorker
https://lnkd.in/e7XDZFyV

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