Musk, who professes to champion free speech but has typically clamped down on content shared via his social media platform X if he doesn’t want it publicly disseminated, has already moved to silence those who share the names of DOGE team members carrying out his orders to wrest control of the levers of federal spending. On Sunday night, after Democrats of the House Foreign Affairs Committee posted on X that “DOGE’s attempt to bulldoze its way into classified systems is part of a broader agenda to dismantle U.S. foreign aid and soft power,” another user on the site, with a paid verified account, replied, “Here’s a list of techies on the ground helping Musk gaining and using access to the US Treasury payment system,” and named the six men identified in the Wired article. Musk shot back, “You have committed a crime,” though there is no law against reporting the names of individuals with a government-affiliated task force. The post was then removed and replaced with a message saying that it had violated X rules. Then the account itself was suspended.
Today, a key Trump appointee, interim District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, signaled that he was prepared to back Musk’s censorship with the resources of the Justice Department. “Dear @elon,” he wrote on X, tagging an account that does not belong to the site owner. “Please see this important letter. We will not tolerate threats against DOGE workers or law-breaking by the disgruntled. All the best. Ed Martin.”
The extraordinary letter the attorney shared stated in part: “I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly. At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.”
The letter does not cite any specific laws but continues, “Let me assure you of this: we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.” It also warns Musk to “be very aware that there are those who are acting against our American people in every way.” Musk quoted the post and acknowledged the letter, writing, “Thank you, receipt via X acknowledged.” Martin later issued a follow-up statement via the U.S. Attorney of D.C. account on X, writing, “Our initial review of the evidence presented to us indicates that certain individuals and/or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees. We are in contact with the FBI and other law-enforcement partners to proceed rapidly. We also have our prosecutors preparing.” In a separate post, Martin quoted the statement from his office and added, “See something, say something.”
