NASA chief: Reported Musk and Putin conversations ‘should be investigated’

Source: Politico | October 25, 2024 | Irie Sentner

“If the story is true … I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Friday said a report that billionaire space scion and former President Donald Trump backer Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin should be investigated — and if it’s true, “would be concerning” for a host of U.S. agencies.

“I don’t know that that story is true. I think it should be investigated,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who previously served as a Democratic Florida senator, said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit. “If the story is true, that there have been multiple conversations between Elon Musk and the president of Russia, then I think that would be concerning, particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies.”

Nelson was referring to a Wall Street Journal report published late Thursday that Elon Musk — the world’s richest person and one of Trump’s most high-profile and wealthy backers — has been in regular contact with the Russian president since 2022.

Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, denied the report, saying Musk and the Kremlin had only had one phone call. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk’s company, SpaceX, has multiple contracts with NASA. On Friday morning, a crew of NASA astronauts returned to Earth from the International Space Station using one of the company’s Dragon capsules.

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Musk offered his Starlink satellites to Ukraine at the onset of the war, but has since stopped funding them and restricted their use by the Ukrainian military. Earlier this year, Ukrainian military intelligence reports found that Starlink was being used by the Russian army.

Musk has poured nearly $120 million into his super PAC supporting Trump and has quickly become one of the former president’s biggest backers, appearing on stage with him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania; spreading the conspiracy theory that Democrats are trying to steal the election through non-citizen voting; and promoting Trump in a constant stream of posts to his social media platform, X.

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