Major Development: Elon Musk Breaks Silence On Joe Biden’s Attempt To Use Government To Meddle In Twitter Deal

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There are few things that are quite as reliable as press coverage of Elon Musk. He has been in the news a great deal, especially lately, on several fronts. Weather it is regarding the much publicized business interest in Twitter or his repudiation of Biden policies, he has certainly been especially prolific in the media.

The latest update in at least one of the drama surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk is when he put President Joe Biden on notice after a Bloomberg reported the federal government may try to meddle in Musk’s business ventures including his deal to buy social media platform Twitter.

It is now being reported by Bloomberg that:

Good point 🤔

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2022

“Biden administration officials are discussing whether the US should subject some of Elon Musk’s ventures to national security reviews, including the deal for Twitter Inc. and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, according to people familiar with the matter. Twitter shares fell 5.1% as the market opened in New York on Friday.

“We do not know of any such conversations,” National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN but a Treasury spokesperson said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States “does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing.”

Bloomberg went on to report that:

US officials have grown uncomfortable over Musk’s recent threat to stop supplying the Starlink satellite service to Ukraine — he said it had cost him $80 million so far — and what they see as his increasingly Russia-friendly stance following a series of tweets that outlined peace proposals favorable to President Vladimir Putin. They are also concerned by his plans to buy Twitter with a group of foreign investors.

The discussions are still at an early stage, the people familiar said on condition of anonymity. Officials in the US government and intelligence community are weighing what tools, if any, are available that would allow the federal government to review Musk’s ventures. 

One possibility is through the law governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review Musk’s deals and operations for national security risks, they said.

Reuters went on to report that:

An element of Musk’s $44 billion Twitter deal which could trigger a CFIUS review is the presence of foreign investors in Musk’s consortium, Bloomberg said.

The group includes Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Binance, which was founded in Shanghai.

Reuters further reported that:

A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department said CFIUS does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing.

Elon Musk has certainly been in the news a great deal. In fact, we at The Raging Patriot just reported earlier this week that according to a report by the Washington Post, Musk plans to lay off a large portion of the Twitter workforce. According to The Washington Post:

“Twitter’s workforce is likely to be hit with massive cuts in the coming months, no matter who owns the company. Interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Post show a change likely to have major impact on its ability to control harmful content and prevent data security crises.”