Democratic senators ask Pentagon and DOJ to investigate any Elon Musk contact with Putin and other top Russians

Two top Democratic senators are asking the Pentagon and the Justice Department to investigate billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk’s reported contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials in recent years. 

Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a top member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, wrote a letter to Defense Department Inspector General Robert Storch and Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday, urging them to determine whether Musk’s reported contacts with the Russians should force a review of the federal government’s contracts with his company, SpaceX. Reuters was first to report the request. 

The Wall Street Journal reported in October that Musk has been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022, and that Putin asked Musk to activate his Starlink satellite internet program over Taiwan for Chinese President Xi Jinping. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Shaheen and Reed expressed concern that giving a security clearance to someone with a reported history of Russian communications could pose a national security risk. 

“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. 

The world’s richest man has become a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump in recent months, giving over $130 million to help elect him, campaigning and traveling with him, and weighing in on Cabinet picks. Trump announced earlier this week that he’s tapping Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. 

CBS News also reported Friday that Musk recently met with Iran’s ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, at the ambassador’s residence in New York, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Iran. 

The senators also sent a separate letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, expressing their concern that the Space Force’s reliance on SpaceX could also affect national security. 

contributed to this report.