Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to elucidate the division’s plan to buy $400 million in armored Tesla Cybertruck autos, calling out tech billionaire Elon Musk’s “glaring conflict of interests.”
In a letter to Rubio Thursday, Blumenthal sought data on the steps the State Division has taken to handle considerations surrounding Musk’s involvement within the buy.
“In the 15 months since it was released, the Cybertruck has been widely derided and subject to at least six separate recalls,” he mentioned.
“Indeed, Tesla has reportedly had ‘disastrous’ sales numbers for the Cybertruck. It hardly seems like the type of reliable vehicle the State Department would choose for this contract absent a heavy thumb on the scale,” the letter reads.
“In the weeks since DOGE was established, it has run roughshod over the Constitution, dismantling agencies on a whim based on inaccurate information while gaining access to the government’s most sensitive systems,” Blumenthal wrote in his letter to Rubio.
“Unsurprisingly, many of the agencies Mr. Musk’s DOGE seeks to dismantle or weaken are the same ones that were previously investigating his myriad business interests,” he added.
The senator famous that there are conflicting reviews concerning when this resolution was made, including, “This planned purchase highlights the profound conflicts of interest issues inherent in Elon Musk’s continued service in the dual roles of Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Inc., and head of the Department of Government Efficiency.”
Blumenthal mentioned he wrote to Musk’s six corporations and requested how a lot they might be benefiting from his function on the DOGE.
Having begun a preliminary inquiry into Musk and his corporations final week, the senator has sought a response to this newest letter by Feb. 21.
