SCOOP: The partially state-owned Chinese firm Ping An claimed an ownership stake in Elon Musk's SpaceX, the world's most valuable private company. Given its role as a vital US defense contractor, SpaceX has internally warned of known Chinese investments drawing scrutiny in D.C.

Scoop: Elon Musk's Neuralink falsified federal forms to qualify for racial diversity and economic empowerment programs. Neuralink's "small disadvantaged business" designation is meant for companies owned by racially and economically "disadvantaged individuals" www.muskwatch.com/p/musks-neur...

New: JNIM, one of the deadliest jihadist groups in the world, is using SpaceX’s Starlink to coordinate attacks, increase their fundraising, and disseminate sophisticated propaganda in West Africa www.muskwatch.com/p/starlink-t...

New: Acting FEMA head David Richardson issued an internal memo today requesting a mission analysis that "will identify the gaps and redundancies between what FEMA is currently doing and what FEMA should be doing consistent with federal law." Richardson has told staff, "Don't get in my way."

New: The Boring Company, Musk's $7 billion transit venture, registered as a small business on a government portal for federal contractors one week after Trump won the 2024 election www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-owned...

1. Meta removed a Facebook ads criticizing Elon Musk's efforts to seize Americans' private information through DOGE. A notice from Meta said the ads violated its rules on "Unacceptable Business Practices."

“Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is seeking access to a heavily-guarded Internal Revenue Service system that includes detailed financial information about every taxpayer, business and nonprofit in the country, according to two people familiar with the activities, sparking alarm within the tax agency.”

NEW: Tonight, dozens of Consumer Finance Protection Bureau employees were fired via a hastily written email. Some affected employees were addressed as “[EmployeeFirstName][EmployeeLastName], [Job Title], [Division].” W/ @makenakelly.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/dozens...

Federal employee with a data role told me that a document was removed from employee access because it had the word "inclusion" in it. As in, "inclusion of data in our estimates."

1. Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of DOGE launched an image-sharing website in 2021 that featured custom “shitposting” URLs that redirected to content hosted on his site. URLs that redirected to Coristine’s site referenced the sale of child sexual abuse material, racial slurs, and rape.

ICYMI: I wrote a takedown of Jack Posobiec's book (which—huge shocker here—doesn't say anything meaningful about the left) and the pro-Trump right's tendency to crib from white nationalists for @thebaffler.com. thebaffler.com/latest/unhum...

Scoop: DOGE's Edward "Big Balls" Coristine launched a privacy-focused image-sharing site in 2021 that allowed users to create custom URLs. The URLs that redirected to Coristine's site referenced the sale of child sexual abuse material, racial slurs, and rape www.muskwatch.com/p/doge-teen-...

1. EXCLUSIVE Today, the NSA is planning a "Big Delete" of websites and internal network content that contain any of 27 banned words, including "privilege," "bias," and "inclusion," a NSA source tells Popular Information. The massive purge is creating chaos, taking down "mission-related" work

Update: Non-federal CFPB workers just received a "stop work" notice from the Office of Financial Procurement

New: CFPB staffers were just called into an all-hands meeting, according to a source at the bureau

Update: DOGE members Luke Farritor and Gavin Kilger are no longer “read only” users at the CFPB. They are now listed as domain administrators in the bureau’s system, meaning they can provide or revoke access as they see fit

New by me and @juddlegum.bsky.social: Elon Musk now has access to reams of confidential information about X's competitors in the digital payment sector, according to an official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-assoc...

I wrote about Jack Posobiec, the intellectual emptiness of the pro-Trump right, and their bizarre—and disingenuous—attempts to co-opt white nationalist thought. My latest for @thebaffler.com: thebaffler.com/latest/unhum...

If you are an employee of the federal government and have information on how Elon Musk/DOGE has impacted your agency, please contact me on Signal at calebecarma.99 or by email at [email protected]

The Rubio-led State Department was supposed to represent a “moderate” side of MAGA. Darren Beattie's appointment makes a mockery of that notion. My latest for MSNBC looks at Beattie, who I’m confident is even more extreme than most people think www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

via @calebecarma.bsky.social and @juddlegum.bsky.social, Musk and his minions have illegally installed a commercial server to control federal HR databases that contain sensitive personal information, including SSNs, home addresses, and medical histories, according to an OPM staffer t.co/u8coELjVnm

New: Musk and his minions have illegally installed a commercial server to control federal HR databases that contain sensitive personal information, including SSNs, home addresses, and medical histories, according to an OPM staffer www.muskwatch.com/p/musk-assoc...