Senators call for probe into SpaceX contracts over Musk’s Russia calls

Two senior Democratic U.S. senators have called for an investigation into reports that billionaire Elon Musk has had multiple conversations with Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, citing national-security concerns.

As the founder and chief executive of SpaceX (SPACE), Musk oversees billions of dollars of in Pentagon and intelligence-community contracts. He has also been named to lead the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency.

In a letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Pentagon’s inspector general Robert Storch, the senators asked if the alleged communications should “force a review of Mr. Musk’s continued involvement in SpaceX’s varying contracts.”

“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,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island in the letter.

The senators said that Musk’s involvement in SpaceX’s (SPACE) defense and intelligence contracts should be investigated for potential debarment.

“I’m going to find out who’s making these accusations and nuke them,” Musk wrote in response to the letter in a post on X on Friday.

The letter, along with a separate request to the Secretary of the Air Force, highlighted reports of Musk’s involvement with high-level Russian officials, including Putin’s deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko.

The U.S. has accused Kiriyenko of leading Moscow’s efforts to influence the 2024 presidential elections.

The senators said that SpaceX (SPACE) holds over $700 million in contracts for Space Force’s National Security Space Launch program, is building a government-exclusive Starshield satellite network for the Space Force, and holds a $1.8 billion dollar classified contract with the National Reconnaissance Agency.

Musk’s Growing Influence

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO had been in discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin dating back to late 2022.

The report said that at one juncture, Putin requested that Musk refrain from activating his Starlink satellite internet service over the area of Taiwan as a personal favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Musk has been one of Trump’s most vocal backers during the 2024 election season, spending over $130 million on the campaign. Last week, he reportedly joined a phone call between the newly elected U.S. President and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

SpaceX’s (SPACE) satellite-based internet Starlink has been vital for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Starlink’s network of nearly 7,000 satellites has made it the world’s largest satellite operator.

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