House Democrat seeks info on Elon Musk's alleged drug use

Could Trump narration with Musk sour?

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Washington — The acting apical Democrat connected the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked President Trump connected Wednesday for accusation astir Elon Musk's alleged cause usage during the 2024 statesmanlike run and whether helium was consuming illicit substances portion serving arsenic a apical advisor to the president successful the White House.

Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, the acting ranking subordinate of the panel, wrote successful a letter to Mr. Trump that helium is investigating the grade of Musk's alleged cause usage and asked the president to crook implicit accusation astir what helium oregon different medication officials knew astir Musk's expected depletion portion helium was moving arsenic a peculiar authorities employee.

Musk, who helped oversee the efforts to overhaul the national authorities done the White House's Department of Government Efficiency, officially ended his tenure moving successful the national authorities past Friday. But the president said that Musk "is not truly leaving," and the billionaire said helium would stay a "friend and adviser" to Mr. Trump.

As a peculiar authorities employee, Musk was constricted to 130 days successful a 365-day period, according to federal law.

"The drastic and erratic quality of Mr. Musk's decisions and actions arsenic a authorities employee, coupled with the reports of his cause use, begs the question of whether Mr. Musk was nether the power of illicit substances portion moving successful your White House," Lynch wrote. "The American radical merit to cognize whether Mr. Musk was nether the power portion helium gleefully took a 'chainsaw' to our national government."

The missive from the Massachusetts Democrat comes connected the heels of a New York Times report published past week that alleged Musk utilized the cause ketamine arsenic often arsenic erstwhile a time during the 2024 campaign. According to the Times, Musk told radical helium was taking truthful overmuch ketamine — which tin beryllium utilized recreationally and for aesculapian purposes — that it was affecting his bladder. 

In summation to ketamine, Musk allegedly took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, the Times reported.

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX wrote connected societal media connected Saturday that helium "tried *prescription* ketamine a fewer years ago" adding it "helps for getting retired of acheronian intelligence holes, but haven't taken it since then." He besides accused the Times of "lying their ass off." The Times responded that the paper had "provided Musk with aggregate opportunities to reply oregon rebut this reporting earlier work and helium declined, opting alternatively to effort to distract with a societal station and nary evidence."

When asked astir the claims of chronic cause usage during an lawsuit with Mr. Trump successful the Oval Office connected Friday, Musk rebuffed the question and attacked the Times.

"The New York Times? Is that the aforesaid work that got a Pulitzer Prize for mendacious reporting connected the Russiagate?" Musk asked. "Let's determination on."

Musk addressed his ketamine usage during an interview with writer Don Lemon past twelvemonth and said helium was taking a "small magnitude erstwhile each different week." He added that "if you usage excessively overmuch ketamine, you can't truly get enactment done … and I person a batch of work."

But the Wall Street Journal reported successful January 2024 that immoderate executives and committee members astatine his companies became acrophobic with his usage of drugs and the imaginable consequences for his wellness and the businesses helium oversees.

Musk successful February said connected societal media that helium has had a apical concealed information clearance "for galore years." Drug tests to surface for amerciable cause usage are typically portion of the information clearance process, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

In his missive to Mr. Trump, Lynch said the president's imaginable cognition of immoderate cause usage by Musk portion helium worked successful the White House "deserves scrutiny."

"Given his salient relation successful the Trump administration, the American radical merit to cognize the past and grade of Mr. Musk's cause usage and immoderate power illicit drugs whitethorn person had connected his efforts to illegally and recklessly dismantle our government," helium wrote. "If Mr. Musk is struggling with substance abuse, it is my anticipation that helium gets the assistance and attraction helium needs."

In summation to seeking accusation astir whether Musk utilized amerciable drugs during his stint successful the administration, Lynch besides asked whether the billionaire consumed illicit substances connected the White House field oregon successful national buildings, and what Mr. Trump oregon his run knew astir Musk's alleged cause usage during the 2024 campaign.

Musk was brought connected arsenic a peculiar authorities worker to assistance with Mr. Trump's inaugural aimed astatine drastically scaling backmost the size of the national government. While moving arsenic a elder advisor to the president, Musk attended Cabinet meetings and traveled with the president. 

The cost-cutting efforts undertaken by DOGE, which Mr. Trump has said Musk led, included plans to lay disconnected thousands of national workers, the dismantling of national agencies similar the U.S. Agency for International Development and the termination of national grants, contracts and leases.

Many of DOGE's actions, arsenic good arsenic Musk's relation with the administration, person been challenged successful the national courts. The Supreme Court is weighing a petition to let the administration's sweeping layoffs of national employees, portion a national territory tribunal successful Maryland recovered Musk and DOGE's shutdown of USAID was apt unconstitutional. The Justice Department has appealed that decision.

A national justice successful Washington has besides allowed a situation to Musk's actions to proceed.