INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Elon Musk's companies could avoid over $2.3 billion in potential fines and other liabilities thanks to Musk's unusual government position as
the head of DOGE, said a memo yesterday from the Democratic staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
The estimate is said to include potential liability from federal investigations, litigation, and other regulatory actions."Since his
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..
and at his command," the 44-page memo said.The subcommittee's investigation found that as of January 20, "Musk and his companies were
subject to at least 65 actual or potential actions by 11 different federal agencies." The memo said the subcommittee "was able to estimate
potential financial liabilities for 40 of the 65 actions by eight federal agencies," resulting in the $2.37 billion total.The memo said the
40 quantifiable items include "$1.19 billion in potential liability as a result of Tesla's allegedly false or misleading statements about
its autopilot and full self-driving features; $633,009 in fines from SpaceX's multiple failures to follow rocket launch requirements in
2023; a total of $713,114 in fines from 29 citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) against SpaceX, Tesla,
and The Boring Company; $281 million in potential liability from Neuralink's alleged false or misleading statements about its product risks,
and many more."The $2.37 billion total does not include several National Labor Relations Board actions against SpaceX and Tesla, and doesn't
include several investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into Tesla's autonomous driving technology, the memo
said.According to the memo:While the $2.37 billion figure represents a credible, conservative estimate, it drastically understates the true
Musk may gain from legal risk avoidance alone as a result of his position in government
In addition to the 25 pending matters the Subcommittee has not yet been able to quantify, Mr
Musk and his companies could gain millions or even billions more simply by avoiding the time, legal fees, and risk of being ordered to
undertake remediation efforts or change labor practices
This figure also does not include the many billions of dollars that Mr
Musk and his companies could gain in other ways, including through new contracts they may secure or the competitive advantage they may gain
by collecting intelligence on competitors.Sen
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the subcommittee's ranking member, sent letters about the findings to Tesla, SpaceX, xAI (which includes X),
Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
