Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) has called for an investigation into Elon Musk and his company, SpaceX, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 12. The U.S. Congress should investigate "whether we have adequate tools to make sure foreign policy is conducted by the government and not by one billionaire," Warren said on Sept. 11 in Washington, D.C.
18 U.S. Code § 953 - Private correspondence with foreign governments:
I am willing to bet that someone in the Ukrainian foreign ministry was aware of this law, and then had some pointed questions for the US State Department on whether or not Elon’s refusal to share intelligence should be taken as an official US position on the matter, and if not, why Elon/SpaceX’s behavior is effectively contradicting official US policy.
This should get interesting, and it could put Elon in some real legal jeopardy on a matter that the US tends to not fuck around with.
How does that relate to, oh I don’t know? Lets say congress budgeted and authorized money for a foreign government but then a president told that government he would not release the money till they did him a personal favor.
While that’s complete bullshit and absolutely an abuse of the system as it’s intended to function, it’s also technically legal, because the person occupying the office of the president at the time (and I know exactly to whom you’re referring) was a duly elected officer of the government - not to mention, the head of state.
The difference here is that Elon was never elected or appointed to any role in the US government, and thus cannot serve as an official representative of the US in any capacity. The law is quite clear and unambiguous on that point.
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Unlikely. SpaceX and Starlink are critical parts of the DOD’s current, and future plans. Or rather, their capabilities are. Additionally, the USGOV isn’t known for holding billionaires to account, but even if they made an exception, don’t hold your breath. The earliest it would happen is AFTER another defense contractor builds out equivalent capabilities and infrastructure to support the DOD.