President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice faced backlash this week after a new report revealed that federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into whether Tesla CEO Elon Musk — who is an opponent of the administration — may have received personal benefits from Tesla that the company failed to disclose.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has convened a federal grand jury as it scrutinizes the alleged personal benefits dating all the way back to 2017.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the investigation centers in-part around a secret project inside the company known as “Project 42,” which was an alleged plan to build a home for Musk constructed out of large-format glass panels.
Musk suggested on X — the social media site formerly known as Twitter, which he bought last October — earlier this month that the plan never existed.
“Just want to reiterate that there is no glass house (metaphors don’t count lol) built, under construction or planned!” Musk wrote. “I’m not building any house of any kind anywhere. Period.”
Just want to reiterate that there is no glass house (metaphors don’t count lol) built, under construction or planned!
I’m not building any house of any kind anywhere. Period.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2023
Despite being the world’s richest man, Musk does not own a lot of material possessions, having previously sold all seven of his homes in California for roughly $127.9 million and vowing to “own no house.”
Prosecutors are investigating whether Tesla disclosed benefits that they may have given to Musk.
They are also seeking information about “the driving range of Tesla’s electric vehicles,” the report added, as they investigate whether the company “misled consumers and investors about the performance of its advanced driver-assistance system known as Autopilot.”
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Biden has previously excluded Tesla from White House initiatives for electric vehicles in favor of the unionized Big Three automakers.
“Biden has pointedly ignored Tesla at every turn and falsely stated to the public that GM leads the electric car industry, when in fact Tesla produced over 300,000 electric vehicles last quarter and GM produced 26,” Musk told CNBC last year.
Musk has also expressed support for former President Donald Trump amid the former president’s legal troubles.
News of Biden’s DOJ investigating Musk and Tesla sparked intense criticism online over concerns that the probe was politically motivated.
Journalist Ian Miles Cheong, who Musk regularly engages with online, posted on X: “The DOJ is broadening the scope of its criminal investigation into Elon Musk. Tell me how this isn’t a politically-driven effort by the Biden administration to go after Musk, who is one of the administration’s loudest and most influential critics.”
The DOJ is broadening the scope of its criminal investigation into Elon Musk. Tell me how this isn't a politically-driven effort by the Biden administration to go after Musk, who is one of the administration's loudest and most influential critics. pic.twitter.com/aDme1akX9P
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 19, 2023
John R. Lott Jr., President of the Crime Prevention Research Center, responded to the story: “Is there any question Biden is going after @elonmusk for purely political reasons?”
Stephen Miller, former Senior Advisor to former President Donald Trump and Founder of America First Legal, called the investigation: “pure political targeting by DOJ.”
“Ruthless, vindictive, vicious weaponization,” Miller wrote on X. “All that stands between Americans and unrestrained federal tyranny is the House of Representatives. Pray they rise to the moment. God help us if they don’t.”