Chris Stewart, a Republican former congressman and senior member of the Home Intelligence Committee, whom Mr. Trump reportedly thought-about nominating as director of nationwide intelligence, as soon as pushed for closed-door briefings on Mr. Musk’s China ties. Mr. Trump’s alternative for secretary of state, Senator Marco Rubio, who beforehand accused Tesla of masking up for the Chinese language Communist Get together, introduced a invoice to stop NASA and different federal companies from giving contracts to corporations linked to China or Russia.
The query now’s whether or not the incoming Trump administration will take this threat significantly.
Mr. Musk is one in all Mr. Trump’s high advisers. Mr. Trump could have gone as far as to reject a bipartisan congressional price range measure as a result of it didn’t have Mr. Musk’s stamp of approval. In November, after his election, Mr. Trump traveled to Texas to watch Mr. Musk’s Starship launch. That’s nice, however doing nothing to make sure America’s area equipment stays safe from potential vulnerabilities wouldn’t be.
The Musk-China issues may be only the start. In a November letter to Lawyer Common Merrick Garland and the Pentagon’s inspector basic, two Democratic senators asked that they examine Mr. Musk’s “reliability as a authorities contractor and a clearance holder” due to his reported conversations with Vladimir Putin and different Russian officers. In a separate letter, the senators requested the Air Pressure secretary, Frank Kendall, to rethink SpaceX’s “outsized position” in America’s business area integration. Mr. Kendall wrote back stating that, whereas he was legally prohibited from discussing Mr. Musk’s case, he shared their issues.
If the federal investigations show deep connections to China and Russia, the federal authorities ought to contemplate revoking Mr. Musk’s safety clearance. It ought to already be enthusiastic about utilizing options to SpaceX’s launch companies.
The truth that Mr. Musk spent 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} to assist re-elect Mr. Trump doesn’t give the incoming White Home the license to look the opposite method on the nationwide safety dangers he could pose. If Mr. Trump and his appointees imply what they are saying about getting robust on America’s adversaries, then they are going to act on this matter at once. There may be an excessive amount of at stake to disregard what’s proper in entrance of them.
Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré led Process Pressure Katrina after the devastation of New Orleans and, after retiring from the Military, led a overview of safety on the U.S. Capitol after Jan. 6, 2021.
The Occasions is dedicated to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to listen to what you consider this or any of our articles. Listed here are some tips. And right here’s our electronic mail: letters@nytimes.com.
Comply with the New York Occasions Opinion part on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and Threads.
