Cyberpunk behind HUD AI video of Trump kissing Musk's feet was on taxpayer-funded union time: whistleblower

New York Post

5 days ago

The cyberpunk who hacked into the television system at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in February to display a vile, AI-generated video of President Trump kissing the feet of Elon Musk breached the department during taxpayer-funded union time, a whistleblower has alleged.
The hacker — whose name has not been made public because the matter is still under investigation — was identified by the feds earlier this year as a high-ranking official at the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 476, a union that represents HUD and other government workers, the whistleblower told Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).
'Reports of union bosses playing childish games and illegally engaging in partisan political activity while on the taxpayers' dime are the latest in a string of concerning allegations against HUD employees in recent years,' Ernst told The Post.
'From bureaucrats relaxing on the beach or sitting in a jail cell while on the clock, the agency has been the poster child for why taxpayer-funded union time needs to end.'
AFGE Local 476 President Dr. Ashaki Robinson said Thursday the union 'unequivocally denies any involvement in the production or dissemination of the AI video featuring President Trump and Elon Musk.'
4 The gross video was displayed during a hack of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's TV systems in February.
'This baseless allegation is another transparent attempt to attack and retaliate against AFGE for engaging lawful activity to advocate for our members and federal employees nationwide,' Robinson told The Post.
'Official time amounts are negotiated and determined by both the agency and the union, and by law can only be used for employee representational matters, not for political purposes or internal union business.'
Ernst, who helms the Senate DOGE Caucus, relayed the whistleblower accusations in a Thursday letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner.
'This improper access to the HUD computer system was not only childish and unprofessional, but also potentially illegal,' the Republican noted in the letter obtained by The Post.
4 At the time, liberal critics accused Elon Musk of being a shadow president.
The revolting clip of an artificial Trump caressing an artificial Musk's feet played on the television sets in a cafeteria at HUD headquarters with the message 'LONG LIVE THE REAL KING.'
The breach occurred at the height of criticism of the Tesla and SpaceX boss for his work at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
'HUD is exploring how to reform the expansive and oftentimes abused flexibility inherent in taxpayer-funded union time,' a HUD spokesperson told The Post. 'It is egregious [that] the American taxpayer is on the hook for subsidizing the paychecks of union workers while these nefarious actions take place.
'The Department will continue to work with leaders like Senator Ernst to return HUD to its mission-minded focus and stop the wasteful abuse of taxpayer dollars.'
4 The AI video had been put on TVs across the Department of Housing and Urban Development's headquarters.
Ernst has been a fierce critic of taxpayer-funded union time, a practice by which government employees are able engage in labor activity during working hours. Government unions are precluded from negotiating pay and benefits, which are set by law, but they can bargain over other workplace issues.
'I think that these unions get away with things that taxpayers wouldn't even believe,' conservative political commentator Mary Katharine Ham, an adviser for the Public Labor Union Accountability Committee, told The Post.
'The idea that we pay for federal unions, not just for their salaries, but to use their salaries to do union work when they should be doing what we pay them to do is wild.'
Ernst has blasted out requests to 24 government agencies demanding data on taxpayer-funded union time and has pushed for legislation to end the practice.
4 Sen. Joni Ernst has been critical of taxpayer-funded union time.
Getty Images for 137 Ventures/Founders Fund/Jacob Helberg
The last time comprehensive data on the topic was published was in 2019, when the Office of Personnel Management found that $135 million had been used on taxpayer-funded union time across the government.
While federal workers are not prohibited from engaging in advocacy on policy issues, the Hatch Act restricts executive branch employees from participating in rallies or soliciting donations for political campaigns during work.
Examples of political activity by HUD employees include participation in events or other activities featuring nearly a dozen Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and more.
'This raises potential Hatch Act violations. These too should be investigated. If union representatives attended the rally while on [taxpayer-funded union time], as alleged, it is possible they did so in violation of federal law,' Ernst wrote.
Additionally, Ernst asked for HUD to look into whether employees have been 'misusing their government travel.'