The Biden administration is reportedly considering a national security review of Elon Musk’s impending purchase of Twitter as well as the mogul’s Starlink Internet satellite system because of its perceived bias in favor of Russia.
White House officials were said to be concerned by a series of recent tweets from the Tesla CEO favoring a compromise peace deal that would see Ukraine hand over Crimea to Russia – a position endorsed by the Kremlin.
Musk in recent weeks has denied a claim that he told a geopolitical analyst that he met personally with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a way out of the stalemate in Eastern Europe.
Senior administration officials were also said to be exasperated by Musk’s recent threat to cut off Ukraine’s access to its Starlink internet system – which is said to have been a major aid to Kiev’s efforts to avoid Russian occupation forces.
Musk said keeping Starlink active for Ukraine has cost him tens of millions of dollars, though he recently appeared to back down on his threat to take the system offline.
The Tesla boss on Thursday praised former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a Putin ally, who mocked Liz Truss, the British leader who resigned as prime minister just 44 days after taking office.
“Bye, bye @trussliz, congratulations lettuce,” Medvedev tweeted — a reference to a long-running social media contest to see if Truss’ tenure as British prime minister would last a head of lettuce without a fridge.
Musk replied: “Pretty good troll tbh [to be honest].”
Musk later trolled Medvedev, tweeting: “Btw, how’s it going at Bakhmut?” – a reference to a Ukrainian city that Russian forces have been fighting to capture.
Musk’s troll prompted Medvedev to clap: “See you in Moscow on Victory Day!”
Biden officials are also said to be concerned that the investors Musk has lined up to help finance his Twitter purchase are foreign, according to Bloomberg News.
The news site reported that discussions “are still at an early stage” and that officials in the government and intelligence community are “weighing what tools, if any, are available that would allow” the administration to look into Musk’s business activities .
Biden officials are considering whether they can subject the world’s richest man to scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency panel that reviews purchases of American firms by foreign buyers.
CFIUS is comprised of personnel from the State Department, the Pentagon, and the Department of Homeland Security. Anonymous sources told Bloomberg News that it is unclear whether there is a legal mechanism for Biden officials to push for a CFIUS review.
Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter includes funding from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal; Binance Holdings, a cryptocurrency exchange that is officially registered in the Cayman Islands and is run by Changpeng Zhao, a Chinese national; and a sovereign wealth fund run by the government of Qatar.
CFIUS, which operates under the auspices of the Treasury Department, is a secretive panel that rarely provides public comment if it is conducting reviews, according to Bloomberg.
The body also has the power to retroactively review agreements that have already been concluded.
A Treasury Department spokesman told The Post: “Consistent with law and practice, CFIUS does not comment publicly on transactions it may or may not review.”
Musk said earlier this week that he was “overpaying” for Twitter, but that he was still “thrilled” to own the social media site.
But Twitter employees couldn’t have been more excited to read a Washington Post report that cited internal discussions indicating that Musk planned to cut up to 75% of the company’s workforce once he took control of the San Francisco-based platform.
Musk had tried to back out of the deal to buy Twitter in July, claiming the company underestimated the number of bot and spam accounts on the social media platform, which set off a series of lawsuits between the two sides.
Earlier this month, Musk reversed course and said he would proceed with the deal under the original terms.
Additional reporting by Theo Wayt
