Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released internal FBI files detailing a February 2025 push by then-Special Agent Kevin Gounaud to open a criminal investigation into Elon Musk. Gounaud argued that Musk's DOGE initiative, which asked federal employees to post their accomplishments on X, violated security policies and personally enriched Musk. Grassley cited the emails, alongside 2017 records of agent Walter Giardina seeking to join the Trump-Russia probe, as evidence of deep-seated political bias within the bureau.
Musk criminal investigation proposal
- ▪In February 2025, then-FBI Special Agent Kevin Gounaud sent an email proposing to open a criminal investigation into Elon Musk over his Department of Government Efficiency activities.
- ▪Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Gounaud alleged that Elon Musk likely generated personal income through X's monetization model and advertising revenues by using the platform for official government business.
- ▪Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Gounaud argued that Elon Musk's use of X to request information from federal employees was conceptually similar to Hillary Clinton's misuse of a private email server.
DOGE employee email initiative
- ▪Elon Musk, acting as a special government employee overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, announced a plan on X requiring federal employees to share five things they worked on.
- ▪Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Gounaud argued that Elon Musk's initiative asking federal employees to list their accomplishments wasted a colossal amount of official time and violated information security policies.
Crossfire Hurricane assignment requests
- ▪Former FBI Agent Walter Giardina emailed at least seven times over four weeks starting in January 2017 requesting to be assigned to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
- ▪The FBI's Crossfire Hurricane counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was handed off to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017.
Grassley Deep State allegations
- ▪Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley characterized the actions of previous Democratic administrations under Barack Obama and Joe Biden as secret, insidious operations that were arguably worse than Watergate.
- ▪Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released internal FBI communications from 2017 and 2025, alleging they reflected political bias and showed the Deep State working against Donald Trump.
Former FBI agent Gounaud
- ▪Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley criticized former FBI Agent Kevin Gounaud on X for attempting to open a criminal case over Elon Musk's request to government bureaucrats.
- ▪Former FBI Special Agent Kevin Gounaud left the Federal Bureau of Investigation in February 2025.
Former FBI agents Giardina Thibault
- ▪FBI Director Kash Patel fired former FBI Agent Walter Giardina in August 2025 over accusations of political weaponization.
- ▪The U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined in January 2024 that former FBI Agent Timothy Thibault violated the Hatch Act by retweeting a Lincoln Project post criticizing Donald Trump.
Story comments
Loading comments…