Elon Musk's conflicts of interest: $2.37 billion in potential federal penalties, report says

[Nevilledog]

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-04-28/elon-musks-companies-face-at-least-2-37-billion-in-potential-federal-penalties-trump-doge-tesla-spacex-blumenthal

No paywall
https://archive.li/Hs5dG

Elon Musk and his companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential federal fines and penalties the day President Trump took office, according to a congressional report released Monday that highlights the possible conflicts of interest posed by the billionaire’s cost-cutting work in government.

The 43-page memo by the minority staff of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), is the most exhaustive attempt yet to detail Musk’s alleged conflicts as an advisor to Trump and chief promoter of his team called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Based on publicly available documents, media reports and the committee’s own calculations, the memo found that as of Jan. 20, Musk and his companies were “subject to at least 65 actual or potential actions by 11 different federal agencies” and that 40 of those created $2.37 billion in potential liabilities.

“Mr. Musk has taken a chainsaw to the federal government with no apparent regard for the law or for the people who depend on the programs and agencies he so blithely destroys,” the memo stated. “The through line connecting many of Mr. Musk’s decisions appears to be self-enrichment and avoiding what he perceives as obstacles to advancing his interests.”

*snip*

[EYESORE 9001]

1. Gonna take a chainsaw to his bidnezzez

I’m rooting for the corporate death penalty: divestiture, liquidation, bankruptcy, banishment from any government contracts - concurrently with prosecution of the muskrat his own self, culminating in deportation.

[progressoid]

2. Raise your hand if you think Elon actually gets fined.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. DOGE cuts could help Elon Musk companies avoid $2 billion in liabilities: Senate report

This is a conflict of interest. musk went after agencies who had claims or lawsuits pending against musk
https://bsky.app/profile/thomashansen.bsky.social/post/3lnvnng3knk2k

DOGE cuts could help Elon Musk companies avoid $2 billion in liabilities: Senate report

Memo finds that as of Inauguration Day, Musk and his companies were facing at least 65 “actual or potential” actions from 11 federal agencies. Many of those threats now neutralized:

Link to tweet

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/28/elon-musk-doge-trump-legal-liabilities-senate-democrats.html

Elon Musk may skirt more than $2 billion in possible financial liabilities by exercising his influence over the federal government, according to a report Monday from Senate Democratic committee staffers.

Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” has brought sweeping changes to Washington with its slash-and-burn campaign to gut agencies and purge the federal workforce. President Donald Trump has avidly supported Musk’s cuts.

As he appears poised to step back from his DOGE work in the coming weeks, Democrats are accusing the world’s richest person of using his influence to “evade oversight, derail investigations, and make litigation disappear whenever he so chooses—on his terms and at his command.”

The report, compiled by Democratic staff of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, found that on the day of Trump’s inauguration, Musk and his companies were facing at least 65 “actual or potential” regulatory or enforcement actions from 11 federal agencies.

These actions totaled at least $2.37 billion in potential liability, the memo says.