House Oversight Democrat seeks information from Trump on Elon Musk's alleged drug use

CBS News

2 days ago

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.