Tesla and SpaceX CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> poked <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/memes">fun</a> at his fellow Americans on Thursday for allowing the Internal Revenue Service (<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/irs">IRS</a>) to more than double in size.
Musk posted a meme depicting a laughing British redcoat, along with the caption: “when the country that revolted over taxes hires 87,000 new IRS agents.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Fate 🖤 Irony <a href="https://t.co/RHZ9BEws7k">pic.twitter.com/RHZ9BEws7k</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1557759290219171841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Musk, a South African who lived in Canada before becoming an American citizen, told a user that he already gets “audited every year by default.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
True. I already get audited every year by default.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1557761535979638784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Indeed, top Biden administration officials — including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig — have argued that the 87,000 new employees, who will be hired through an $80 billion carveout from the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, will focus primarily upon wealthy Americans. The IRS employed nearly 79,000 full-time employees as of fiscal year 2021, according to the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/statistics/irs-budget-and-workforce">agency</a>, which also reported $13.7 billion in operating costs.
“I direct that any additional resources — including any new personnel or auditors that are hired — shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels,” Yellen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/janet-yellen-vows-irs-audits-wont-rise-for-middle-income-americans-but-theres-a-catch">told</a> Rettig in a Wednesday letter. “This means that, contrary to the misinformation from opponents of this legislation, small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in the chances that they are audited.”
Yellen did not mention, however, that “historical levels” of audits were significantly higher as recently as one decade ago. According to a report from the <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104960.pdf">Government Accountability Office</a>, audit rates for Americans earning between $25,000 to $200,000 fell 76% between 2010 and 2019, while those earning less than $25,000 saw audit rates fall by 61%. Taxpayers earning between $200,000 and $500,000 — representing those at the upper end of the Biden administration’s vow to not raise taxes for those earning less than $400,000 — saw a 92% decline in audits.
The report added that IRS officials “attributed the overall decline in audit rates to decreased funding, and therefore reduced staffing to conduct audits” — constraints which are directly addressed by the Inflation Reduction Act. The agency’s job <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/guns-body-armor-spy-gear-heres-what-bidens-beefed-up-irs-investigation-unit-will-pack">description</a> for new agents says that employees must “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”
Yet Rettig vowed that his agency will “absolutely not” use its new employees to target middle-class Americans and small businesses. Instead, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irs-we-will-absolutely-not-target-everyday-americans-with-new-army-of-agents">promised</a> that the new funding will create better information technology systems that will help Americans more easily comply with tax laws.
For his part, Musk has repeatedly warned about the dangers of unsustainable fiscal habits. “True national debt, including unfunded entitlements, is at least $60 trillion — roughly three times the size of the entire US economy,” he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/something-has-got-to-give-elon-musk-issues-dire-warning-about-national-debt">commented</a> on social media earlier this year. “Something has got to give.”
Even as several left-wing lawmakers — such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) — accused Musk of “freeloading off everyone else” and failing to pay his “fair share,” the entrepreneur <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pramila-jayapal-reacts-to-elon-musk-paying-11-billion-in-taxes-by-asking-rich-to-pay-their-fair-share">revealed</a> that he paid $11 billion in taxes last year.
“And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year,” Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-will-pay-more-taxes-than-any-american-in-history-this-year-elon-musk-obliterates-elizabeth-warren-with-one-tweet">retorted</a>. “Don’t spend it all at once … oh wait you did already.”

Tesla Gigafactory – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Weighs In On IRS Preparing To Hire Army Of Agents

Elon Musk Is Not Thrilled With IRS' New Army Of Agents

Biden Administration

Elon Musk

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Memes

Taxes

Tesla and SpaceX CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> floated the idea of starting his own <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/social-media">social media</a> platform Wednesday if he ends up no longer purchasing <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/twitter">Twitter</a>.
Musk, who formerly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-purge-is-coming-twitter-explodes-after-elon-musk-tanks-44-billion-deal">made a proposal</a> to buy the social media company at $44 billion, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-the-latest-in-the-elon-musk-twitter-legal-feud">argues</a> that Twitter’s disclosed number of false or spam accounts is inaccurate — possibly numbering as high as 33% rather than Twitter’s reported 5%. The multibillionaire is therefore locked in a legal battle, with the company trying to force the completion of the deal.
In an exchange on Twitter about his recent sale of $6.9 billion in Tesla stock, Musk explained that he is avoiding an “emergency sale” of shares in the “hopefully unlikely” event Twitter forces the deal to close.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Yes.
In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1557198421206769664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
When asked whether he would start his own social media platform if the deal is terminated, Musk simply replied with a link to “X.com.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/bOUOejO16Y">https://t.co/bOUOejO16Y</a>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1557199404301307904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2022</a></blockquote>
Musk co-founded X.com as an online bank in 1999, which merged with Confinity in the following year to become PayPal. In 2017, Musk purchased the domain name from PayPal while citing “sentimental value,” according to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-teases-xcom-website-possible-twitter-competitor-social-network-2022-8#">Business Insider</a>. The site currently shows nothing more than a small black “X” in the corner of the page.
The outlet noted that Musk referenced X.com at a recent shareholder meeting for Tesla. &#8220;I do sort of have a grander vision for what I thought X Corporation could have been back in the day,&#8221; Musk said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a pretty grand vision and of course that could be started from scratch but I think Twitter would accelerate that by three to five years.&#8221;
Musk, the world’s richest man, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-twitter-files-lawsuit-against-elon-musk-for-refusing-to-honor-his-obligations">said</a> that he does not “care about the economics” of the potential Twitter acquisition “at all,” repeatedly citing the need to address the lack of free expression on the platform.
“It’s important to the function of democracy, it’s important to the function of the United States as a free country and many other countries, and to help freedom in the world more broadly than in the U.S.,” Musk said. “Civilizational risk is decreased the more we can increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform, and so I do think this will be somewhat painful.”
The trial to determine the outcome of the acquisition deal is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-happening-five-day-trial-date-set-for-elon-musk-twitter-dispute">scheduled</a> for October.
“Adoption of the merger agreement by our stockholders is the only remaining approval or regulatory condition to completing the merger under the merger agreement,” Twitter <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/twitter-misses-earnings-forecast-blames-elon-musk">argued</a> in a recent earnings report, which pinned a loss of $0.08 per share on the proceedings with Musk. “The exact timing of completion of the merger, if at all, cannot be predicted because the merger is subject to ongoing litigation, adoption of the merger agreement by our stockholders and the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions.”
Meanwhile, Musk’s attorneys said in a July 8 letter that Twitter has neglected to provide accurate information about its user base.
“Mr. Musk and his financial advisors at Morgan Stanley have been requesting critical information from Twitter as far back as May 9, 2022 — and repeatedly since then — on the relationship between Twitter’s disclosed mDAU figures and the prevalence of false or spam accounts on the platform,” the letter said. “Notwithstanding these repeated requests over the past two months, Twitter has still failed to provide much of the data and information responsive to Mr. Musk’s repeated requests.”

The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” – Street Sightings

Elon Musk Floats Potential Competitor To Twitter

Elon Musk May Resurrect An Old Company Of His To Compete With Twitter

Parag Agrawal

Social Media

Social Media Bias

Twitter

Australian sheep farmers discovered two large pieces of space debris and several other smaller scraps scattered in the middle of a paddock last month that may have belonged to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/spacex">SpaceX</a> Crew-1&#8217;s Dragon Capsule.
Wedged into pastures in New South Wales, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/australia">Australia</a>, witnesses believe the debris re-entered the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere on July 9 after reports of a large bang was heard within a 100-mile radius across the Snowy Mountains, Australian media <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-29/space-junk-found-in-nsw-snowy-mountains-paddocks-/101277542">reports</a>.
Mick Miners, who runs a sheep farm in the region, came across a nearly 10-foot black and gray piece of space junk that looked similar to the Dragon Capsule&#8217;s trunk on his property last month, giving him quite a shock.
&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t quite sure what to think about it all,&#8221; Miners told Australian media. &#8220;I looked, and then I had a look around, and it made me sort of wonder a bit what was going on when things just start falling out of the sky.&#8221;
Miners then approached his neighboring farmer, who also found similar-looking debris a week earlier.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a concern it&#8217;s just fallen out of the sky,&#8221; Jock Wallace told Australian media. &#8220;If it landed on your house it would make a hell of a mess.&#8221;
Searching for answers about the mysterious objects that fell from the stars, Wallace contacted the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, who told him to connect with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States.
&#8220;I&#8217;m a farmer from Dalgety,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What am I going to say to NASA?&#8221;
Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at Australia National University College of Science, told local media he believes one of the objects came from the trunk of the SpaceX Crew-1 Dragon mission, which launched in November 2020.
&#8220;It&#8217;s hard to always be 100% in science,&#8221; Tucker said. &#8220;I would say, with very little doubt, that this is a piece of space junk — the things that we&#8217;ve been seeing here.&#8221;
Tucker said that based on the structure&#8217;s build, composition, and some of the materials marked with subtle details — such as scarring patterns from re-entering the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere — have led him to believe the bits of space junk came from the trunk of the SpaceX mission.
&#8220;From a distance as well, it just looks like an old burnt tree stump,&#8221; Tucker told <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.space.com/spacex-debris-fall-australia-crew-1-dragon-capsule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Space.com</a>. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t until you got closer you realize there is something off about it.&#8221;
Although SpaceX has not yet confirmed if the debris belonged to the revolutionary space technology company, its Crew-1 Dragon spacecraft that carried four astronauts splashed down into the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City on May 2, 2021.
&#8220;Hopefully, SpaceX can confirm it is their part,&#8221; Tucker said, adding that Elon Musk&#8217;s company did not do anything wrong. &#8220;In fact, the whole point was to have the bits break up — as we see — and land in the ocean.&#8221;
&#8220;It just didn&#8217;t quite land in the ocean,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Probably most of it still did. This is part of the normal plan.&#8221;
Jonathon McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian collaboration Center for Astrophysics, said in a <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1553030725456240643" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet</a> that the space object landed near the Dragon&#8217;s re-entry path and &#8220;is a good match to one of the Dragon trunk fins.&#8221;
Space debris crash-landing into the Earth&#8217;s surface has happened in the past before the sheep farmers&#8217; case.
Australian astrophysicist Tucker said the U.S. Space Station&#8217;s Skylab crashed over Esperance, Western Australia in the 1970s. During the 1980s, another incident occurred with a Russian nuclear-powered satellite plunging into Canadian land. And approximately 40 years later, a Chinese rocket booster damaged buildings in West Africa&#8217;s Ivory Coast in 2020.
In 1997, the only recorded incident of a piece of space debris landing on someone was the case of Lottie Williams in Oklahoma, who was hit in the shoulder with an object, BBC <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62414438" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports.</a>
However, the two sheep farmers were thankful to have dodged the debris.
&#8220;Yeah, I don&#8217;t think you&#8217;d fare too well if it landed on you,&#8221; Wallace said.
Although Wallace admits, it&#8217;s quite exciting to know the debris crashed into his &#8220;paddy.&#8221;
If SpaceX confirms the debris belongs to one of its spacecraft, Tucker said a legal process must play out between Australia and U.S.government officials.
&#8220;This is becoming almost an international incident,&#8221; Tucker said. &#8220;Not in a bad sense — but this is how space is governed through treaties and at a national level and preserving and representing the interests of the people in Australia like Mick and Jock.&#8221;

Possible SpaceX Dragon Capsule Debris Crashes Into Australian Sheep Farm

Australia

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA

SpaceX

Elon Musk publicly challenged Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to a debate over the weekend over Twitter&#8217;s claims that less than 5% of the accounts on the platform are spam accounts.
The challenge comes as Twitter and Musk engage in a legal battle over the company as Musk attempts to back out of his $44 billion purchase of the company. He alleges that the company withheld key information on how many accounts are spam accounts, which Musk&#8217;s team argues has created a &#8220;material adverse effect.&#8221;
Musk&#8217;s team conducted an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/05/tech/elon-musk-twitter-suit-answer/index.html">analysis</a> of the accounts on Twitter using a publicly available tool called &#8220;Botometer,&#8221; which was created by researchers at the University of Indiana.
Musk&#8217;s team alleges that spam accounts make up approximately one-third of the accounts on the platform and comprise roughly 10% of the platform&#8217;s monetizable daily active users (mDAU).
Musk issued the debate challenge in response to a Twitter thread from cybersecurity researcher Andrea Stroppa.
&#8220;Clearly, from Twitter SEC filings, mDAU is the key metric. It is the key metric for its business rev. And its market value; mDAU is an ad hoc metric, created to protect Twitter&#8217;s interests. No competitor uses something similar,&#8221; Stroppa <a href="https://twitter.com/Andst7/status/1555612797844717569?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">tweeted</a>. &#8220;When @elonmusk requested more information about spam and fake accounts, Twitter provided a vague response. Then provided outdated data; Then offered a fake data set (not real &#8220;firehose&#8221;); Then provided a cleaned data set where they already suspended the malicious accounts.&#8221;
&#8220;Furthermore, Twitter, refused to say to @elonmusk and his team, who reviews for spam, how those reviewers are trained, the criteria it uses, the process it follows, the standards it applies, or how Twitter verifies the accuracy of the reviewers&#8217; results,&#8221; Stroppa added. &#8220;Why does a multi-billion company invest little in these analyses? Why most of the things related to this topic are vague and incomplete? Why is that hard to provide data, criteria, and methods to the public? Many of you hated FB for little transparency, but Twitter is worse.&#8221;
&#8220;Good summary of the problem,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1555823555161604099?cxt=HHwWhoC-qfjRspcrAAAA">tweeted</a>. &#8220;If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.&#8221;
&#8220;I hereby challenge @paraga to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1555950698252181507?cxt=HHwWhoC9ldK67JcrAAAA">added</a>. &#8220;Let him prove to the public that Twitter has &lt;5% fake or spam daily users!&#8221;

Elon Musk Visits Site Of New Tesla Gigafactory In Germany

Musk Publicly Challenges Twitter’s CEO To A Debate

Musk Publicly Challenges Twitter's CEO To A Debate

Elon Musk slammed President Joe Biden&#8217;s push to free WNBA player Brittney Griner from Russia for a drug offense while thousands of Americans are locked up at home for similar crimes.
Griner was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wnba-star-brittney-griner-sentenced-to-9-years-in-russian-prison">sentenced</a> to 9 years in a Russian prison late last week after Russian prosecutors had argued that Griner, who was convicted of deliberately sneaking marijuana vaping materials into the country, should serve 9 1/2 years in prison.
“If the president is working so hard to free someone who is in jail in Russia for some weed, shouldn’t we free people in America?” Musk <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/08/06/elon-musk-gives-scalding-take-on-bidens-push-to-free-brittney-griner/">said</a> during a podcast interview last week. “There are people in jail in America for the same stuff. Shouldn’t we free them too? My opinion is that people should not be in jail for non-violent drug crimes.”
The Biden administration has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-biden-offers-to-release-notorious-russian-terrorist-in-exchange-for-brittney-griner-report-says">reportedly</a> offered to exchange notorious Russian weapons trafficker Viktor Bout, who was convicted of terrorism charges, in exchange for the release of Griner and Paul Whelan.
During the podcast, Musk <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/08/05/elon-musk-feds-drug-tested-me-after-i-smoked-weed-with-joe-rogan/">revealed</a> that after he briefly smoked marijuana during an episode of &#8220;The Joe Rogan Experience,&#8221; he was forced to submit to random drug tests for a year.
“I did get a lot of backlash, because it’s still federally illegal,” Musk said. “Space X has federal government contracts, so our competitors were like, ‘Why aren’t you doing anything? Look at him brazenly smoking weed on Joe Rogan’s podcast.’ They drug tested me for everything.”
Musk also made news over the weekend by publicly challenging Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to a debate over Twitter’s claims that less than 5% of the accounts on the platform are spam accounts.
The challenge comes as Twitter and Musk engage in a legal battle over the company as Musk attempts to back out of his $44 billion purchase of the company over allegations that the company withheld key information on how many accounts are spam accounts which Musk’s team argues has created a “material adverse effect.”
Musk’s team conducted an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/05/tech/elon-musk-twitter-suit-answer/index.html">analysis</a> of the accounts on Twitter using a publicly available tool called “Botometer,” which was created by researchers at the University of Indiana.
Musk’s team alleges that spam accounts make up approximately one-third of the accounts on the platform and comprise roughly 10% of the platform’s monetizable daily active users (mDAU).
Musk issued the debate challenge in response to a Twitter thread from cybersecurity researcher Andrea Stroppa.
“Good summary of the problem,” Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1555823555161604099">tweeted</a>. “If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.”
“I hereby challenge @paraga to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage,” Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1555950698252181507?cxt=HHwWhoC9ldK67JcrAAAA">added</a>. “Let him prove to the public that Twitter has &lt;5% fake or spam daily users!”
Greg Wilson contributed to this report.

Musk Biden

Musk Shreds Biden Over Push To Free Brittney Griner From Russian Prison

Musk Criticizes Biden Over Push To Free Brittney Griner From Russian Prison

Brittney Griner

Joe Biden

Russia

Tech billionaire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> on Friday made his official response to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter">Twitter</a> lawsuit public, claiming that a stunning 33% of all visible accounts on the Left-wing platform are spam.
Twitter is trying to force the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tesla">Tesla</a> CEO to buy the platform after Musk announced he wanted to terminate the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-purge-is-coming-twitter-explodes-after-elon-musk-tanks-44-billion-deal">$44 billion deal</a> based on Twitter’s alleged failure to disclose accurate information on the number of spam accounts on the platform.
Musk&#8217;s team said that their own analysis of fake accounts, using data provided by Twitter and a University of Indiana-developed Botometer, found that spam bots in the first week of July accounted for 33% of the platform&#8217;s visible accounts, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/05/tech/elon-musk-twitter-suit-answer/index.html">according</a> to CNN Business. Moreover, 10% of Twitter&#8217;s monetizable daily active users, or mDAU, were spam accounts.
Twitter contends only 5% of all its accounts are spam.
A judge last month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-happening-five-day-trial-date-set-for-elon-musk-twitter-dispute">granted</a> Twitter a five-day trial set for October in its case against Musk.
“The reality is that delay threatens irreparable harm to the seller, Twitter, for the reasons I described earlier: The longer the delay, the greater the risk,” Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-elon-musk-hearing-152545679.html">according</a> to Yahoo! Finance.
“Given this reality I think a schedule closer to the norm is in order. For this reason, I think we should go to trial in October of this year,” the judge added.
Musk inquired early on about data regarding fake and “bot” accounts on the social media site, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-purge-is-coming-twitter-explodes-after-elon-musk-tanks-44-billion-deal">The Daily Wire</a> reported. In a <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000110465922078413/tm2220599d1_ex99-p.htm">letter</a> sent through his attorneys, dated July 8, Musk claimed the information had not been provided and demanded the termination of the agreement to buy the platform.
“Mr. Musk and his financial advisors at Morgan Stanley have been requesting critical information from Twitter as far back as May 9, 2022 — and repeatedly since then — on the relationship between Twitter’s disclosed mDAU figures and the prevalence of false or spam accounts on the platform,” the letter said, adding, “Notwithstanding these repeated requests over the past two months, Twitter has still failed to provide much of the data and information responsive to Mr. Musk’s repeated requests.”
Days later, on July 12, Twitter <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-twitter-files-lawsuit-against-elon-musk-for-refusing-to-honor-his-obligations">sued</a> Musk in an attempt to compel him to go through with the deal.
“Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests,” the lawsuit <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:0ef7d871-947c-3ed5-8b88-b3b582ee8d08#pageNum=3">said</a>. “Musk apparently believes that he — unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law — is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-father-says-hes-not-proud-of-his-son-makes-comments-about-elons-weight-age-in-stunning-interview">Elon Musk’s Father Says He’s Not Proud Of His Son, Makes Comments About Elon’s Weight, Age In Stunning Interview</a>

Here’s The Latest In The Elon Musk/Twitter Legal Feud

Court

Delaware

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that the federal government tested him and his company &#8220;for everything&#8221; for a year after he appeared on &#8216;The Joe Rogan Experience&#8221; podcast in 2018.
During the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">tech billionaire&#8217;s</a> appearance Thursday on the &#8220;Full Send&#8221; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXS_gkWAIs0">podcast</a> with Nelk Boys and John Shahidi, Musk admitted that taking &#8220;like one puff&#8221; of marijuana during <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-rogan">Rogan&#8217;s</a> show wasn&#8217;t the best decision when it came to him and his SpaceX company.
&#8220;I did get a lot of backlash,&#8221; the tech head admitted while laughing. &#8220;Because it&#8217;s still federally illegal.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Elon Musk Reveals His Knowledge on Aliens, Challenges Putin to UFC, and Predicts WW3" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fXS_gkWAIs0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;It was pretty nutty, actually,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So, I had to have like random drug tests and stuff after that to prove that I&#8217;m not like a drug addict.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-father-says-hes-not-proud-of-his-son-makes-comments-about-elons-weight-age-in-stunning-interview">Musk</a> revealed that it was the federal government that put him through all the testing because he explained that &#8220;SpaceX has federal government contracts.&#8221;
&#8220;So like the SpaceX competitors were like &#8216;Hey, why aren&#8217;t you doing anything? Look at him &#8230; brazenly smoking weed on Joe Rogan&#8217;s podcast,'&#8221; the Tesla mogul shared.
&#8220;They drug tested me for everything,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Randomly. I couldn&#8217;t like you know pick a day &#8230; I had to have a whole year of random drug tests.&#8221;
When pressed further by the one of the hosts that he must&#8217;ve thought he&#8217;d get some kind of backlash, Musk admitted he didn&#8217;t know it was going to be as bad as it was.
&#8220;The consequences for me and for SpaceX were actually not good,&#8221; the CEO admitted. &#8220;Because it&#8217;s federally illegal &#8230; unfortunately it wasn&#8217;t just me but the whole company. All of SpaceX had to have random drug tests.&#8221;
In 2018, Rogan interviewed Musk in his then-Los Angeles studio, before the podcaster moved to Texas during the pandemic. The state of California legalized recreational cannabis consumption in 2018, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/08/05/elon-musk-feds-drug-tested-me-after-i-smoked-weed-with-joe-rogan/">The New York Post</a> noted. When video of Musk smoking weed surfaced, Tesla&#8217;s stock price tumbled by as much as nine percent, the outlet reported.
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/theyre-fed-joe-rogan-says-canada-is-communist-now-being-led-by-a-fing-dictator">&#8216;They&#8217;re F***ed’: Joe Rogan Says &#8216;Canada Is Communist&#8217; Now, Being Led By A &#8216;F***ing Dictator</a>&#8216;

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Elon Musk Says They Drug Tested Him ‘For Everything’ After Joe Rogan Podcast

Elon Musk Says They Drug Tested Him 'For Everything' After Joe Rogan Podcast

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The father of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> made stunning statements knocking his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/technology">tech</a> billionaire son during an Australian radio hit over the weekend.
Errol Musk, 79, and his son Elon have had a documented tumultuous relationship. The elder Musk made waves last month when it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-father-has-second-child-with-his-stepsister-report">revealed</a> he had a second child with his step-daughter, Jana Bezuidenhout, three years ago.
“Your offspring is a genius,&#8221; Australian host Jackie O told Errol, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/08/01/errol-musk-says-hes-not-proud-of-son-elon/">according</a> to the New York Post. &#8220;He’s worth so much money and has created so many things, you can’t take that away from him. Are you proud?&#8221;
“No,&#8221; Errol responded. &#8220;You know, we are a family that have been doing a lot of things for a long time, it’s not as if we suddenly started doing something.&#8221;
Mr. Musk said it was actually Elon&#8217;s brother, Kimbal, whom he favored, calling him his &#8220;pride and joy.&#8221;
Elon&#8217;s father then took shots at his son for apparently being behind schedule in his career.
“He is frustrated with progress and it’s understandable,” Errol said of Elon. “I know it sounds crazy, but we tend to think like that as a family.&#8221;
&#8220;He’s 50 now and I still think of him as a little boy,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;But he’s 50, I mean that’s an old man.”
Errol, who told the host he does not drive a Tesla, then went after Elon&#8217;s physical appearance.
“Elon is very strongly built but he’s been eating badly,” Errol said, adding that he&#8217;s told his son to use a supplement called garcinia cambogia to help with weight loss.
Elon has been open about his rough relationship with his father. In the past, the SpaceX founder has called Errol &#8220;evil&#8221; and &#8220;a terrible human being.&#8221;
&#8220;He was such a terrible human being,&#8221; Musk told Rolling Stone, Nine.com.au <a href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/elon-musk-father-errol-musk-relationship-explainer/f9969b0b-46f4-41db-b26b-ad08385542fa">reported</a>. &#8220;My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil.&#8221;
&#8220;You have no idea about how bad,&#8221; Elon said. &#8220;Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.&#8221;
Elon also said that his father called him an &#8220;idiot&#8221; and told him he wouldn&#8217;t make it when Elon decided to leave South Africa for Canada to start anew.
&#8220;He needs to get over himself,&#8221; Errol <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5513787/Billionaire-space-pioneer-Elon-Musk-branded-father-evil.html">told</a> the Daily Mail. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to hit back. I&#8217;m going to wait until he comes to his senses. He&#8217;s having a tantrum, like a spoilt child. He can&#8217;t have what he wants and now I am apparently an evil monster.&#8221;

The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” – Arrivals

Elon Musk’s Father Says He’s Not Proud Of His Son, Makes Comments About Elon’s Weight, Age In Stunning Interview

Elon Musk’s Father Says He’s Not Proud Of His Son In Stunning Interview, Makes Comments About Elon’s Weight, Age

The Wall Street Journal issued two statements this week defending a reporter who wrote a report alleging that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> had an affair with the wife of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/google">Google</a> co-founder Sergey Brin.
Michael Siconolfi, an investigations editor at the newspaper, reported at the start of the week that Musk “engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin,” Nicole Shanahan, in early December 2021 at the Art Basel event in Miami. The report claimed that the affair led to Brin divorcing Shanahan and ended the longtime friendship between the two men.
The report claimed that Musk “dropped to one knee in front of Brin and apologized profusely for the transgression” during a party earlier this year and was “begging for forgiveness.” The report said that Brin acknowledged the apology, but he is not speaking with Musk, and he has ordered his team to sell his personal investments in Musk’s companies.
A lawyer for Shanahan said that the allegations that the two had an affair were completely false.
Musk responded by saying that Shanahan should sue The Wall Street Journal because she is not a public figure, therefore she would have an easier time winning in court.
“As a ‘public person,’ standard to win a defamation lawsuit against a news org is almost impossible,” Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1552300589693927425">tweeted</a>. “They could say I’m Satan and the ‘source’ is their psychic! Nicole is not a public person, so could win. I hope she sues them. @michaelsiconolf has done so many fake hit pieces.”
The Wall Street Journal issued two statements about Siconolfi&#8217;s report. A day after the report was published, the newspaper said, &#8220;We are confident in our sourcing, and we stand by our reporting.&#8221;
&#8220;Recent attacks on Michael Siconolfi are unwarranted and unfounded,&#8221; the newspaper later added after Musk called out the reporter by name online. &#8220;Mike is a celebrated and widely respected editor and reporter in our industry. He has overseen a wide array of impactful stories with integrity and high standards for The Wall Street Journal over many decades. For the record, Mike was not part of the editing team for this story.&#8221;
Musk’s personal life has come under fire this year after a female flight attendant at one of his companies <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woman-makes-sexual-misconduct-claim-against-elon-musk">accused</a> him of exposing himself to her, which he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-responds-to-sexual-misconduct-allegations-from-flight-attendant-issues-a-challenge-to-her">denies</a>; his alleged <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-fathered-twins-with-top-executive-just-weeks-before-having-child-with-another-woman">fathering</a> of two children with an executive at his company Neuralink; his dad <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-father-has-second-child-with-his-stepsister-report">fathering</a> a second child with his stepsister; and one of his children publicly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musks-trans-son-files-to-change-name-disses-dad">disowning</a> him.

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The Wall Street Journal Responds To Musk’s Attacks On Journalist Who Wrote Report Alleging Affair

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Elon Musk pushed for action to be taken against The Wall Street Journal this week after the newspaper published a report that alleged Musk had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-had-affair-with-wife-of-worlds-top-10-richest-man-dropped-to-his-knees-begging-for-forgiveness-report">reported</a> that Musk “engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin” at the Art Basel event in Miami. Brin, co-founder of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is the world’s <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DexuBik1kPoJ:https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/sergey-brin/+&amp;cd=18&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us">eighth</a> richest man, worth nearly $95 billion. The company also owns Android and YouTube.
The alleged affair caused Brin to file for divorce from wife Nicole Shanahan earlier this year and has ended the friendship between the two men, or so the report claimed.
Musk later released a photograph of the two partying together this week, <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/07/25/elon-musk-laughs-of-affair-rumors-hasnt-had-sex-in-ages/">saying</a>, “Nicole and Sergey’s divorce has absolutely nothing to do with me.”
“I am sure both Nicole and Sergey would confirm that,&#8221; Musk continued. &#8220;I spoke with both Sergey and Nicole about this and they say the story isn’t coming from them, so [it] must be a case of broken telephone, two or three layers removed. We were not romantically involved in any way.&#8221;
Shanahan’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/07/27/sergey-brins-estranged-wife-calls-elon-musk-affair-outright-lie/">told</a> Page Six this week that the allegations of an affair between Musk and his client were completely false.
“Make no mistake, any suggestion that Nicole had an affair with Elon Musk is not only an outright lie but also defamatory,” he said.
Musk responded to the latest developments by saying that Shanahan should sue The Wall Street Journal because she is not a public figure, therefore she would have an easier time winning in court.
&#8220;As a &#8216;public person,&#8217; standard to win a defamation lawsuit against a news org is almost impossible,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1552300589693927425">tweeted</a>. &#8220;They could say I’m Satan and the &#8216;source&#8217; is their psychic! Nicole is not a public person, so could win. I hope she sues them. @michaelsiconolf has done so many fake hit pieces.&#8221;
&#8220;Moreover, I talked to Sergey yesterday and he says neither he nor anyone he knows has talked to WSJ,&#8221; Musk added.
Musk strongly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-responds-to-accusations-that-he-slept-with-wife-of-google-co-founder">denied</a> the story when it was published Sunday afternoon, calling it &#8220;total BS.&#8221;
“WSJ has run so many bs hit pieces on me and Tesla I’ve lost count! It’s embarrassing for them, frankly,” Musk continued. “They once wrote an article saying FBI was about to arrest me, so I called FBI to ask what’s up and they said WSJ article was total bs. Just more shortseller fud.”
Musk said that “character assassination attacks” on him have reached “a new level this year” but claimed that they were all “nothing-burgers” and that he did not even have enough time to get in trouble.
“WSJ is supposed to have a high standard for journalism and, right now, they are way sub tabloid,” he added. “WSJ should be running stories that actually matter to their readers and have solid factual basis, not third-party random hearsay.”

Musk Pushes For Action Against The Wall Street Journal For ‘Defamation’ After Publishing Alleged Affair

Russia will leave the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024, the nation&#8217;s new space chief announced Tuesday.
Yuri Borisov, selected earlier this month to lead Russia&#8217;s space agency, noted that the nation intends to fulfill its current obligations before leaving the ISS to focus on building its own space station.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-science-241e789005f6375eeac3189acbdbc140" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the Associated Press. &#8220;I think that by that time we will start forming a Russian orbiting station.”
The ISS is run by the space agencies of the U.S., Russia, Japan, Europe, and Canada. First launched in 1998, the station has been in operation for more than two decades.
The station usually holds a crew of seven members, with three Russians, three Americans, and one Italian currently aboard.
Robyn Gatens, the Director of the ISS Division at NASA, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-leave-international-space-station-project-2024-director-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Tuesday that she has not yet received an official notice from Roscosmos regarding the change, according to Fox News.
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/science/russia-space-station.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The New York Times on Tuesday that nothing has been shared officially regarding Russia&#8217;s planned change regarding the ISS.
“That is very recent news,” he said, “and so we haven’t heard anything officially. Of course, you know, we were trained to do a mission up here, and that mission is one that requires the whole crew.”
The announcement follows months of concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine would lead to changes in its space agency&#8217;s international partnerships. Russia has increasingly isolated itself politically from the U.S. and Western European nations following sanctions over its actions in Ukraine.
Russia&#8217;s politics have already caused controversy aboard the ISS. Earlier this month, three Russian cosmonauts were shown in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/04/russian-cosmonauts-display-flag-of-occupied-luhansk-region-on-iss-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">photograph</a> aboard the space station with a flag from the Luhansk People&#8217;s Republic. The region is one of the areas of Ukraine under invasion by Putin and largely under the control of a Russia-backed separatist group.
Russia has also taken a financial hit since Elon Musk&#8217;s SpaceX began <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/08/1091661900/spacex-space-station-launch-axiom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transporting astronauts</a> to the ISS. Roscosmos had previously earned millions of dollars per passenger on its Russian-made rockets.
NASA&#8217;s plans include operating the ISS through 2030. Those efforts may now require a change or revision without Russia&#8217;s support.
The report also comes just days after China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-launches-first-of-two-remaining-modules-needed-to-complete-permanent-orbiting-space-station" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> Sunday the first of two remaining modules needed to complete its first permanent orbiting space station.
When completed, the modules will become the T-shaped Tiangong Space Station. The station will be smaller than the International Space Station but large enough to hold six crew members for a temporary period.
The first crew to board the new space station is expected to launch in December.

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Russia To Leave International Space Station After 2024

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Elon Musk released a photo Monday that he suggested disproves a report published over the weekend that claimed that he had an affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-had-affair-with-wife-of-worlds-top-10-richest-man-dropped-to-his-knees-begging-for-forgiveness-report">reported</a> that Musk “engaged in a brief affair last fall with the wife of Sergey Brin” in early December 2021 at the Art Basel event in Miami. Brin, a co-founder of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is the world’s <a href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DexuBik1kPoJ:https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/sergey-brin/+&amp;cd=18&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us">eighth</a> richest man, worth nearly $95 billion. The company also owns Android and YouTube.
The Wall Street Journal said the alleged affair caused Brin to file for divorce from wife Nicole Shanahan earlier this year and has ended the friendship between the two men.
Musk released a photo of himself with Brin that he said had just been taken a few hours before, showing the two men partying together.
“Nicole and Sergey’s divorce has absolutely nothing to do with me,” Musk <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/07/25/elon-musk-laughs-of-affair-rumors-hasnt-had-sex-in-ages/">told</a> the New York Post. “I am sure both Nicole and Sergey would confirm that. I spoke with both Sergey and Nicole about this and they say the story isn’t coming from them, so [it] must be a case of broken telephone, two or three layers removed.”
“We were not romantically involved in any way,” he continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Yeah, that was Sergey and me yesterday afternoon!
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1551618502833864707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;A picture is worth 1000 tweets,&#8221; Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1551619646306091008">wrote</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1551622578183323651">Twitter</a>. &#8220;The real problem here is that [Wall Street Journal Investigations Editor] @michaelsiconolf has zero journalistic integrity.&#8221;
The Wall Street Journal&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-responds-to-accusations-that-he-slept-with-wife-of-google-co-founder">report</a> noted that Musk and Brin were so close at one point that Musk had regularly slept at Brin’s home, and Brin had loaned Musk money when Tesla was struggling during its early days.
The report claimed that Musk “dropped to one knee in front of Brin and apologized profusely for the transgression” during a party earlier this year and was “begging for forgiveness.” The report said that Brin acknowledged the apology, but he is not speaking with Musk and has ordered his team to sell his investments in Musk’s companies.
“This is total bs. Sergey and I are friends and were at a party together last night!” Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1551386634741895170">responded</a> on Twitter Sunday evening. “I’ve only seen Nicole twice in three years, both times with many other people around. Nothing romantic.”
“WSJ has run so many bs hit pieces on me and Tesla I’ve lost count! It’s embarrassing for them, frankly,” Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1551392795545333760">continued</a>. “They once wrote an article saying FBI was about to arrest me, so I called FBI to ask what’s up and they said WSJ article was total bs. Just more shortseller fud.”

Elon Musk Releases Photo He Suggests Debunks Story That He Had Affair With Wife Of Google Co-Founder

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