Why did Elon Musk, whose Twitter/X is reportedly bleeding ad revenue, go all in on disinformation supporting Donald Trump? Why is he jumping around the stages wearing so many shades of MAGA hat? Why test the election law now, so close to November 5, with a dubious lottery of 1 million registered voters in swing states who signed Musk’s dubious petition?
These questions are being raised on the campaign trail, after VP candidate Tim Walz joked in a speech on Tuesday that Musk was Trump’s vice president. In a moment made for memes, Walz wondered why Musk started “dancing like a dipshit” at the former president’s meetings.
The answer may not be that Musk has just become a red-pill true believer. The owner’s X feed has long been littered with far-right fibs that don’t get public notice, and yet even now he seems reluctant to go down MAGA’s deepest rabbit holes — for example, refusing to accept a 2020 election conspiracy theory book at his first solo event in Pennsylvania this week.
And this is not about Musk’s tax bill. You might think that would be a big reason for the world’s richest man to rally for someone like Trump, who promises to cut his effective tax rate, to head the federal government. But based on ProPublica’s IRS investigation, Musk may be underpaying federal income taxes. Trump will try to lower the tax rate on stock sales, something Musk has done a lot of — but it’s ultimately Congress that decides whether to cut taxes, not the president.
No, it increasingly looks like Musk’s biggest concern is avoiding consequences from the feds, according to the full report. New York Times report.
Musk’s four companies are facing “at least 20” federal probes. The Departments of Justice, Labor and Transportation are investigating legal violations and discrimination charges against Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink. And X? The SEC and FTC are inundated with alleged violations of Musk’s $44 billion purchase. Just this month, Musk was absent from an SEC court-ordered hearing.
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Musk has a history of dragging the SEC and other regulators into lengthy court battles, then paying fines that pale in comparison to his wealth. But now, with so many fronts to contend with, 2025 may be the year the billionaire’s scorn finally catches up to him thanks to more detailed investigations. New York Times report.
On top of his state battles, Musk faces a dozen secret lawsuits from the families of Tesla owners, three of which are scheduled to go to trial in 2025. Allegations are that Musk is making Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities look more advanced. than they were, resulting in many deaths and injuries. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration and the DOJ are looking at the same thing.
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At the same time, Musk currently holds an incredible amount of travel inside federal government – as one of the main contractors. I Times he has held nearly $16 billion in contracts for his companies over the past decade, mostly with the Pentagon and NASA. And Musk’s reliance on government funding is growing: last year alone, his companies received $3 billion from 17 federal agencies.
That’s 3 billion reasons every year to block any investigation that might fall under Musk’s contract arsenal.
And here’s what Trump gave Musk: his “government efficiency commission” that would recommend cuts to federal agencies. Most importantly, it will also propose changes in regulations. Trump and his Project 2025 supporters have vowed to purge federal government workers. In Trump’s second administration, Musk could be one of the strongest voices at the table deciding the direction of that purge.
Here it is: Not a conspiracy theory, but a clear promise to let Musk torture his investigators. Musk may dress as “DOGE,” a reference to one of his favorites, but here’s the way Times The report puts it: The department “would essentially give the world’s richest man and a major government contractor the power to control the regulators that govern his companies, which would be a serious conflict of interest.”
Given the staggering amount of money involved, “potentially significant conflict of interest” may be an understatement. Either way, growing Musk’s $3 billion-a-year government business — and protecting his businesses from potential stock-taking investigations — is worth circling states waving big checks in any number of MAGA hats.
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