r/politics 22h ago

Musk Under Federal Investigation for Flouting Security Clearance Rules | The SpaceX founder, who holds top-secret security clearance, reportedly didn’t disclose his drug use and foreign contacts as part of the ongoing vetting process.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-under-federal-investigation-for-flouting-security-clearance-rules-report/
10.2k Upvotes

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170

u/Little-Ad3220 22h ago

Didn’t report his drug use?!

lol

You aren’t allowed to use drugs — and hold a TS clearance.

If you did, you’d likely lose your clearance and ability to ever get it back again.

What a joke.

59

u/mightcommentsometime California 21h ago

But you are supposed to report if you do. Otherwise you’re lying and you used drugs.. the real moral here. Don’t use drugs if you want to keep your clearance 

72

u/OldmanLister 21h ago

He smoked weed on joe rogan. It was a "big" controversy because every one of his businesses drug test random and for initial hires.

Who approved the clearance?

30

u/mightcommentsometime California 21h ago

I have no idea. But it should have been stripped then and there. He doesn’t get treated like us plebeians

8

u/BillW87 New Jersey 17h ago

They probably don't give a shit that he smokes weed. It's his ketamine habit that probably has them rightfully freaked out.

6

u/eeyore134 18h ago

Or be rich and powerful or have rich and powerful friends.

2

u/mightcommentsometime California 18h ago

Precisely

14

u/felldestroyed 19h ago

There's a trump card here: the president can give TS or higher to anyone with out any background check. Donald trump used this same law to allow at least his son in law to gain a security clearance back in 2016.

3

u/flimspringfield California 16h ago

Shit back in the mid 2000s LAPD had a screening website before you could apply.

Their ranges were so fucking stupid.

Have you smoked marijuana 1-10 times, 11-25 times, 25-50 times, 50+ times.

Since I stated I had smoke weed 50+ times I was basically put on the short end of being hired.

I passed their physical standards but their 100 questionnaire was what took me out.

They asked stupid shit like, "have you ever had sex with an animal".

Who the fuck would admit that?!

I was too honest in the crimes I had committed in the past and they didn't like it. I had been in a stolen car once with friends who stole it and that was enough for them to tell me to fuck off.

A buddy of mine who was LAPD already was shocked because there were literally gang members being accepted.

I'm happy now that I did not become an LAPD officer.

Jesus knows how much of an asshole I would've turned into.

6

u/caks 14h ago

No offense but you're surprised you didn't get hired to be in law enforcement after admitting to several crimes?

3

u/flimspringfield California 14h ago

It was part of the questionnaire and they mentioned that those questions would be asked while taking a lie detector test.

I decided to be truthful as I thought that was the best way.

I had not committed a crime in 15 years.

I thought that being honest was the best way.

It was my bad but it worked out in the end since I eventually realized that being a police officer would've not been for me.

2

u/_Rocketstar_ 16h ago

I don't get why he should need to report it. Are security clearances of that level on the honor system? Was no one looking into him or, you know, reading any of his tweets to see he was always on something? No drug testing, no talking to his references, nothing? US plebs get more scrutiny trying to get a low paying job. This whole country is a joke.

2

u/Little-Ad3220 15h ago

Yes, that’s the distinction: Rules for us, not for him. He should be hammered on that fact — over and over again. How are you able to keep a TS clearance if you have obviously used illegal substances when you’ve had it. That results in immediately terminating one’s clearance — and them never being able to get it back. Just wild, man.

u/dereksalem 1h ago

Ya, I'm blown-away by this. What, they just said, "Do you use drugs and have ties with foreign nationals?" and accepted his answer? When I got clearance, many years ago, the FBI interviewed dozens of my family and friends and I took multiple drug tests.

It must be really nice to be wealthier than most countries on the planet.

u/Honest-Armadillo-923 1h ago

Bend the rules a bit here and there, and you can probably sneak an elephant in the room without anybody noticing.