The weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ) is expanding criminal investigations into Twitter/X boss Elon Musk, an influential critic of Democrat President Joe Biden.
The DOJ is probing allegations that Musk received perks from his electric automaker Tesla dating back to 2017 as part of a criminal investigation.
However, the investigations are now far broader than previously understood.
As Slay News previously reported, the DOJ launched a probe into Musk over allegations that Tesla resources may have been used on secret plans to build a glass mansion for CEO Musk.
According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, however, this is now just one of the claims the DOJ is investigating.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has also sought information about transactions between Tesla and other entities connected to Musk.
The broadened timeline and scope of the probe suggest federal prosecutors have a far deeper interest in Musk and his electric car company than was previously known.
Biden’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also opened a civil investigation into the construction project, officials confirmed.
The SEC is seeking similar information from the company.
Dubbed “Project 42” and described inside the company as a mansion for Musk, the plans involved a dramatic glass-walled building near Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, according to the WSJ.
Following an order for millions of dollars worth of specialized glass, Tesla board members quietly investigated whether company resources had been misused for the project and whether Musk himself had a role.
It’s worth noting that Tesla doesn’t only build cars as the company also specializes in high-tech solar roofs and energy storage systems for domestic homes.
Musk wrote on his social media platform Twitter/X earlier this month that “there is no glass house (metaphors don’t count lol) built, under construction or planned!
“I’m not building any house of any kind anywhere. Period.”
Just want to reiterate that there is no glass house (metaphors don’t count lol) built, under construction or planned!
I’m not building any house of any kind anywhere. Period.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2023
According to a recently released authorized biography of the tech billionaire, Musk last year explored building a home for himself on a horse farm across the Colorado River from the Texas factory.
He even reportedly met with an architect to brainstorm designs “but put off building it,” Walter Isaacson wrote.
Musk suggested the design could incorporate a shard of glass emerging from a lake, the book stated.
An SEC spokesperson previously issued a statement that said: ‘The SEC does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
SEC rules require public companies to disclose any perks or other personal benefits worth more than $10,000 paid to the top officers, including the CEO.
The regulatory agency has recently brought a number of civil enforcement actions against publicly traded companies for failing to disclose executive perks, including Hilton Worldwide and Stanley Black & Decker.
The SEC also requires public companies to tell investors about any transactions above $120,000 in which a related party, such as an executive officer, has a material interest.
At Tesla, information about the purported glass mansion has dribbled out intermittently for more than a year.
Plans evolved over time, but at least some of the renderings reportedly seemed to show a residential area with bedrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen, the Journal reported last year.
One rendering depicted the building as a glass cube similar to the Apple Store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, the report said.
Another showed it as a “twisted hexagon” next to a body of water with the Tesla factory in the background.
Other renderings depicted a waterfall as part of the landscaping, and some Tesla employees speculated the project could include some kind of a museum.
The building in question has not been constructed, and Tesla insiders said they were uncertain of the project’s status or the outcome of the board investigation.
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