Feb. 20, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: On Feb. 10, I called Congressman Ben Cline’s Washington, D.C., office at (202) 225-5431 and spoke to Rebecca.
I asked her “What is the Congressman’s position on the conflict of interest inherent in Mr. Elon Musk examining sensitive contract, personal and payment data, concurrently holding substantial government contracts?”
The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) defines conflict of interest as: “The basic criminal conflict of interest statute, 18 U.S.C. § 208, prohibits Government employees from participating personally and substantially in official matters where they have a financial interest.”
Mr. Musk has “official matters” (i.e. contracts) with our government and has access to our U.S. Treasury disbursement system (payment system) and other systems so there is a conflict of interest.
Congressman Cline sent me a lengthy email reply that never mentioned conflict of interest and did not acknowledge, nor answer, the question I had asked his staff. Here’s some of his response: “Mr. Musk holds some of the highest-level security clearances as a key defense contractor and his work is integral to ensuring U.S. military superiority. As you are aware, the rocket systems and satellites his companies produce are used across the federal government, including in the Department of Defense, and his Starlink system has been critical in supporting U.S. allies abroad. There are few, if any, private individuals who have done more to advance America’s technology and defense capabilities in modern history.”
Which is my point, exactly. There are a lot of current contracts to provide these systems and services. Simply having a security clearance does not make it legal or right for a person to have access to contracts and information about government personnel, programs, contracts, requirements, budgets etc … and along with it comes access to information about the American public.
MIKE LENNON Rockbridge County
