Right-wing influencer sues to declare Elon Musk as her baby's father
Conservative influencer and author Ashley St. Clair petitioned a Manhattan court Friday to legally declare Elon Musk as her child's father and to give her sole custody of the infant.
The petitions, filed in the New York Supreme Court, sketch the timeline of the pair's relationship and cast the tech billionaire as an absent, uninvolved father. Musk did not respond to emails seeking comment.
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USA Today
33 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump administration's emerging surveillance state raises privacy concerns
Trump administration's emerging surveillance state raises privacy concerns Civil liberties advocates say the Trump administration's data collection and sharing endanger Americans' constitutional rights. Show Caption Hide Caption Privacy at risk as Trump expands surveillance. Here's what we know. The Trump administration is expanding government surveillance with Big Tech's help. Here's what we know now about what's being tracked. DENVER ‒ For decades, the government has been able to watch where you drive and where you walk. It can figure out where you shop, what you buy and with whom you spend time. It knows how much money you have, where you've worked and, in many cases, what medical procedures you've had. It can figure out if you've attended a protest or bought marijuana, and it can even read your emails if it wants. But because all of those data points about you were scattered across dozens of federal, state and commercial databases, it wasn't easy for the government to easily build a comprehensive profile of your life. That's changing ‒ fast. With the help of Big Tech, in just a few short months the Trump administration has expanded the government surveillance state to a whole new level as the president and his allies chase down illegal immigrants and suspected domestic terrorists while simultaneously trying to slash federal spending they've deemed wasteful and keep foreigners from voting. And in doing so, privacy experts warn, the federal government is inevitably scooping up, sorting, combining and storing data about millions of law-abiding Americans. The vast data storehouses, some of which have been targeted for access by Elon Musk's DOGE teams, raise significant privacy concerns and the threat of cybersecurity breaches. "What makes the Trump administration's approach so chilling is that they are seeking to collect and use data across federal agencies in ways that are unprecedented," said Cody Venzke, a senior policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union. "The federal government's collection of data has always been a double-edged sword." Americans value their privacy Americans have fiercely guarded and worried about their privacy even from the country's earliest days: The Constitution's Fourth Amendment specifically limits the government's ability to invade a person's privacy. Those concerns have only grown as more government functions are carried out online. A 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 71% of Americans worry about the government's use of data about them, up from 64% in 2019. The survey found the concern was greatest among those people who lean or consistently vote Republican, up from 63% to 77%. The level of concern among people who lean or consistently vote Democrat remained steady at 65%, the survey found. That same survey found that Americans overall are almost as concerned about government access to their data as they are about social media companies having access. People who had attended college were more worried about data privacy, while people with high school degrees were in general "confident that those who have access to their personal information will do the right thing." In acknowledgment of those concerns, the federal government carefully stores most data about Americans in separate databases, from Social Security payments to Medicare reimbursements, housing vouchers and food stamps. That limits the ability of government employees to surreptitiously build comprehensive profiles of Americans without court oversight. In the name of rooting out fraud, and government inefficiency, however, President Donald Trump in March ordered federal agencies under his control to lower the walls between their data warehouses. The Government Accounting Office estimates the federal government loses $233 billion to $521 billion to fraud annually, much of that because of improper payments to contractors or falsified medical payments, according to a GAO report in April. The report also noted significant losses via Medicare or unemployment fraud and pandemic-era stimulus payments. "Decades of restricted data access within and between agencies have led to duplicated efforts, undetected overpayments, and unchecked fraud, costing taxpayers billions," President Donald Trump said in a March 20 executive order that helped create the new system. "This executive order dismantles unnecessary barriers, promotes inter-agency collaboration, and ensures the Federal Government operates responsibly and efficiently to safeguard public funds." Merging of commercial and government databases Supporters say this kind of data archive, especially video surveillance coupled with AI-powered facial recognition, can also be a powerful tool to fight crime. Authorities in New Orleans used video footage collected by privately owned security cameras to help capture at least one of the fugitives in a high-profile prison escape in May. And systems that read license plates helped Colorado police track down a suspect accused of repeatedly vandalizing a Tesla dealership. White House authorities are now prosecuting some Tesla vandalism cases as terrorism. But the new White House efforts go far beyond anything ever attempted in the United States, allowing the government to conduct intrusive surveillance against almost anyone by combining government and commercial databases. Privacy experts say it's the merging of government and commercial databases that poses the most significant concern because much of it can be done without court oversight. As part of the broader White House effort, contractors are building a $30 million system to track suspected gang members and undocumented immigrants and buying access to a system that tracks passengers on virtually every U.S.-based airline flight. And federal officials also are making plans to compile and share state-level voting registration information, which the president argues is necessary to prevent foreign nationals from illegally voting in federal elections. Privacy experts say that while all of that data has long been collected and kept separate by different government agencies or private vendors ‒ like your supermarket frequent shopper card and cell phone provider ‒ the Trump administration is dramatically expanding its compilation into comprehensive dossiers on Americans. Much of the work has been kicked off by Musk's DOGE teams, with the assistance of billionaire Peter Thiel's Denver-based Palantir. Opponents say such a system could track women who cross state lines for abortions − something a police officer in Texas is accused of doing − or be abused by law enforcement to target political opponents or even stalk romantic partners. And if somehow accessed by hackers, the centralized systems would prove a trove of information for fraud or blackmail. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Project on Government Oversight has been warning about the risks of federal surveillance expansion for years, and it noted that Democrats and Republicans alike have voted to expand such information-gathering. "We need our leaders to recognize that as the surveillance apparatus grows, it becomes an enticing prize for a would-be autocrat," POGO said in a report in August 2024. "Our country cannot build and expand a surveillance superstructure and expect that it will not be turned against the people it is meant to protect." Starting with immigration, ending where? Trump campaigned in 2024 on a platform of tough immigration enforcement, including large-scale deportations and ending access by undocumented people to federal programs. Immigrants' rights advocates point out that people living illegally in the United States are generally barred from federal programs, although those who have children born as U.S. citizens can often access things like food assistance or health care. Supporters say having access to that data will help them prioritize people for deportation by comparing work history and tax payments to immigration status, work that used to be far more labor-intensive. Because federal officials don't know exactly who is living illegally in the United States, the systems by default must scoop up information about everyone first. One example: A newly expanded program to collect biometric data from suspected illegal immigrants intercepted at sea also can be used to collect the same information on American citizens under the vague justification of "officer safety." That data can be retained for up to 75 years, according to federal documents. "It's only a matter of time before the harmful ripples from this new effort reach other groups," Venzke said.
Fox News
40 minutes ago
- Fox News
Massie calls on Elon Musk to fund primary challenges against Republicans who backed Trump tax bill
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Elon Musk should fund primary challenges against almost every Republican who voted for President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" last week. "I don't primary my colleagues, but I feel pretty good about him doing it," Massie told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "There's a few others that should be spared," when asked to clarify if he meant all 215 House Republicans who supported the legislation. "But people want term limits, right? Elon can bring term limits." Musk came out against the massive Trump agenda bill that House Republicans passed last week. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it," Musk first posted. It was followed by several posts on the national debt, and one that read, "In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people." Massie said on Wednesday, "I just think he made one mistake when misstatement – he said take them out in November. I would take them out in primaries if I were Elon Musk." Both House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the White House have closed ranks around the legislation. Johnson issued a rare forceful response to Musk from the podium of his weekly press conference on Wednesday, calling the billionaire "flat wrong." "Elon and I left on a great note. We were texting one another, you know, happy texts, you know, Monday and then, and then yesterday, you know, 24 hours later, he does a 180, and he comes out and opposed the bill," Johnson told reporters. "And it surprised me, frankly. And, I don't take it personal…I think he's way off on this, and I've told him as much, and, I've said it publicly and privately." The massive budget reconciliation bill is aimed at advancing Trump's priorities on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the debt limit. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected it would add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years, but House GOP leaders have dismissed that modeling as inaccurate representations of economic growth. Massie was one of three House Republicans to vote against the bill. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, also voted "no," while House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., voted "present." Massie is also no stranger to clashing with both Trump and Johnson. He has faced primary threats from the former and led an unsuccessful bid to remove the latter from House leadership. Massie has been consistent, however, in his opposition to legislation that would have any chance of adding to the federal debt – now currently nearly $37 trillion. Republican supporters of the bill, however, have contended that it is the best possible vehicle to radically reform government programs plagued with waste, fraud and abuse, and restore much-needed funding to the border, while extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts. However, the legislation is now in the Senate, where Republicans have already signaled they would want to see changes to the final bill. Fox News Digital reached out to the National Republican Congressional Committee for comment on Massie's remarks.
CBS News
40 minutes ago
- CBS News
House Oversight Democrat seeks information from Trump on Elon Musk's alleged drug use
Washington — The acting top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked President Trump on Wednesday for information about Elon Musk's alleged drug use during the 2024 presidential campaign and whether he was consuming illicit substances while serving as a top adviser to the president in the White House. Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, the acting ranking member of the panel, wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump that he is investigating the extent of Musk's alleged drug use and asked the president to turn over information about what he or other administration officials knew about Musk's supposed consumption while he was working as a special government employee. Musk, who helped oversee the efforts to overhaul the federal government through the White House's Department of Government Efficiency, officially ended his tenure working in the federal government last Friday. But the president said that Musk "is not really leaving," and the billionaire said he would remain a "friend and adviser" to Mr. Trump. As a special government employee, Musk was limited to 130 days in a 365-day period, according to federal law. "The drastic and erratic nature of Mr. Musk's decisions and actions as a government employee, coupled with the reports of his drug use, begs the question of whether Mr. Musk was under the influence of illicit substances while working in your White House," Lynch wrote. "The American people deserve to know whether Mr. Musk was under the influence while he gleefully took a 'chainsaw' to our federal government." The letter from the Massachusetts Democrat comes on the heels of a New York Times report published last week that alleged Musk used the drug ketamine as often as once a day during the 2024 campaign. According to the Times, Musk told people he was taking so much ketamine — which can be used recreationally and for medical purposes — that it was affecting his bladder. In addition to ketamine, Musk allegedly took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, the Times reported. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX wrote on social media on Saturday that he "tried *prescription* ketamine a few years ago" adding it "helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven't taken it since then." He also accused the Times of "lying their ass off." The Times responded that the newspaper had "provided Musk with multiple opportunities to reply or rebut this reporting before publication and he declined, opting instead to try to distract with a social post and no evidence." When asked about the claims of chronic drug use during an event with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office on Friday, Musk rebuffed the question and attacked the Times. "The New York Times? Is that the same publication that got a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on the Russiagate?" Musk asked. "Let's move on." Musk addressed his ketamine use during an interview with journalist Don Lemon last year and said he was taking a "small amount once every other week." He added that "if you use too much ketamine, you can't really get work done … and I have a lot of work." But the Wall Street Journal reported in January 2024 that some executives and board members at his companies became concerned with his use of drugs and the potential consequences for his health and the businesses he oversees. Musk in February said on social media that he has had a top secret security clearance "for many years." Drug tests to screen for illegal drug use are typically part of the security clearance process, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency. In his letter to Mr. Trump, Lynch said the president's potential knowledge of any drug use by Musk while he worked in the White House "deserves scrutiny." "Given his prominent role in the Trump administration, the American people deserve to know the history and extent of Mr. Musk's drug use and any influence illicit drugs may have had on his efforts to illegally and recklessly dismantle our government," he wrote. "If Mr. Musk is struggling with substance abuse, it is my hope that he gets the assistance and treatment he needs." In addition to seeking information about whether Musk used illegal drugs during his stint in the administration, Lynch also asked whether the billionaire consumed illicit substances on the White House campus or in federal buildings, and what Mr. Trump or his campaign knew about Musk's alleged drug use during the 2024 campaign. Musk was brought on as a special government employee to help with Mr. Trump's initiative aimed at drastically scaling back the size of the federal government. While working as a senior adviser to the president, Musk attended Cabinet meetings and traveled with the president. The cost-cutting efforts undertaken by DOGE, which Mr. Trump has said Musk led, included plans to lay off thousands of federal workers, the dismantling of federal agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the termination of federal grants, contracts and leases. Many of DOGE's actions, as well as Musk's role with the administration, have been challenged in the federal courts. The Supreme Court is weighing a request to allow the administration's sweeping layoffs of federal employees, while a federal district court in Maryland found Musk and DOGE's shutdown of USAID was likely unconstitutional. The Justice Department has appealed that decision. A federal judge in Washington has also allowed a challenge to Musk's actions to proceed.
