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Musk Under Federal Investigation for Flouting Security Clearance Rules

The SpaceX founder, who holds top-secret security clearance, reportedly didn’t disclose his drug use and foreign contacts as part of the ongoing vetting process.

The U.S. military is investigating whether Elon Musk complied with federal security-clearance rules following reports the SpaceX founder and chief executive used illegal drugs and maintained regular contact with Russia.

Like many government employees, defense contractors generally hold confidential, secret, or top-secret security clearance giving them access to certain classified information.

Musk holds top-secret clearance and is supposed to report certain information—including drug use and foreign travel—as part of the so-called “continuous vetting” process the government uses to evaluate whether to keep giving someone access to national security secrets.

But following reports that Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his aides since 2022, the Department of Defense, the Pentagon and the Air Force have all opened reviews into whether the world’s richest man has followed the reporting requirements, The New York Times reported.

Sources told the paper Musk hadn’t disclosed all of his foreign travel or been forthright about his illegal drug use. He was also denied a “Special Access Program” high-level security clearance for certain extremely sensitive classified Air Force programs.

The alleged violations have happened for years but have intensified recently with new hires at SpaceX, according to the Times.

They’ve also gained new urgency as SpaceX has received new government contracts and Musk—who donated $250 million to power President-elect Donald Trump’s re-election campaign—has been named a government efficiency advisor with the power to propose cuts to departments that oppose him.

The Daily Beast has reached out to SpaceX and Musk’s representatives for comment.

Musk held mid-level security clearance at SpaceX until 2018, when the company applied for him to receive top-secret level clearance that would give him access to advanced U.S. military technology.

The company holds about $5.2 billion in Defense Department contracts and has been tasked with creating a network of spy satellites.

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) spent more than two years—which is twice the usual amount of time—vetting Musk before finally approving his clearance, the Times reported.

The process was delayed by Musk smoking pot on Joe Rogan’s podcast, multiple outlets have reported, while investigators were also worried about his business interests in China, according to the Times.

That clearance triggered the continuous vetting requirements, but starting in 2021, Musk and his team allegedly stopped reporting all of his meetings and travel plans.

Musk also failed to report that he had used ketamine as a form of anti-depressant. He has a prescription for the drug for when his “brain chemistry sometimes goes super negative,” he wrote on X in August 2023.

Around the same time, the Air Force denied Musk the “Special Access Program” clearance, which meant he couldn’t participate in meetings where the highly classified programs were discussed.

A Pentagon official told the Times Musk was rejected because his extensive contacts with foreign officials, foreign investments and “lack of explanation” about some foreign contacts all could have posed security risks.

SpaceX executives promised to keep Musk out of the most sensitive discussions, but some government officials worried he has joined the meetings anyway, the Times reported.

Whistleblowers at the company said executives had been allowed to attend meetings without the proper security clearances, while employees—including Musk—were allegedly discouraged from reporting security-clearance violations.

Nine U.S. allies—including countries in Europe and the Middle East—have expressed concerns that Musk is a “wild card” who could reveal sensitive information, according to the Times’ sources.

That hasn’t stopped Musk from traveling with Trump and sitting in on diplomatic meetings. And once he takes office, Trump will have the authority to give Musk access to any information he wants, regardless of the Pentagon’s apprehensions.

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Janna Brancolini

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