Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has demanded an investigation into Elon Musk over claims against the tech boss that have already been proven to be false.
Warren is demanding a comprehensive investigation into the debunked story that Musk personally intervened in a Ukrainian attack against Russia.
In the early days of the war, Musk’s SpaceX repositioned its Starlink satellite network to provide Internet access in Ukraine after Russia took out the infrastructure to take the country offline.
However, a recent report from CNN claimed that Musk halted Ukraine’s access to the Starlink network during a potential attack on Russian warships near Crimea.
CNN reported on a preview of excerpts from Walter Isaacson’s upcoming biography on Musk.
Isaacson, a renowned biographer and former head of CNN, was forced to issue a major retraction over the story shortly before his book’s launch.
has had to retract a major claim from his eagerly awaited biography on Elon Musk just as the book was set to launch.
The claim suggested that Musk deliberately turned off Starlink coverage to prevent a Ukrainian drone assault on a Russian fleet in Crimea.
However, the claims published by CNN were revealed to be incorrect after Musk and Isaacson both made clarifying statements.
The initial account painted Musk as making a game-changing decision at a pivotal moment.
The claim suggested that Musk had told his SpaceX engineers to “turn off coverage within 100 kilometers of the Crimean coast.”
The story claimed that Musk was acting out of concern that a surprise attack would escalate into a nuclear confrontation reminiscent of a “mini-Pearl Harbor.”
According to the debunked claim, the impact of Musk’s “intervention” was significant, causing Ukrainian drone submarines to lose connectivity and ultimately become ineffective in their intended assault on the Russian fleet at Sevastopol.
These assertions, from an early excerpt published by CNN, triggered a flood of speculation and debate about Musk’s influence.
Many were quick to accuse Musk of possible interference in global affairs.
However, in a swift turn of events, Musk responded and debunked the claim.
Musk clarified that Starlink had never been operational over Crimea.
The satellites must be positioned over specific locations to provide access to the network.
Musk had only positioned Starlink above Ukraine to provide the nation with access.
He further explained that SpaceX received an “emergency request from government authorities” to activate Starlink for the underwater assault.
However, the request was rejected because doing so would have embroiled SpaceX in a significant escalation of war.
Isaacson later confirmed Musk’s stance.
In posts on Twitter/X, Isaacson stated:
“To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not.”
He further added that he had misunderstood the situation based on his discussions with Musk.
To clarify on the Starlink issue: the Ukrainians THOUGHT coverage was enabled all the way to Crimea, but it was not. They asked Musk to enable it for their drone sub attack on the Russian fleet. Musk did not enable it, because he thought, probably correctly, that would cause a…
— Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) September 9, 2023
Isaacson’s September 9 post has so far been viewed over 47 million times, so it didn’t exactly fly under the radar.
Nevertheless, Warren has still swooped in, even after the correction was issued, calling for Musk to be investigated.
“The Congress needs to investigate what’s happened here and whether we have adequate tools to make sure foreign policy is conducted by the government and not by one billionaire,” the Democrat demanded during comments at the Capitol.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald weighed in on the allegations of “treason” against Musk from lawmakers based on the debunked claims.
Musk responded to a post from Greenwald on Twitter where the Twitter/X boss expressed unwavering loyalty to the United States.
“I am a citizen of the United States and have only that passport,” Musk declared.
“No matter what happens, I will fight for and die in America.
I am a citizen of the United States and have only that passport. No matter what happens, I will fight for and die in America.
The United States Congress has not declared war on Russia. If anyone is treasonous, it is those who call me such.
Please tell them that very clearly.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 11, 2023
This is not the first time Warren has pushed false claims in a desperate effort to go after Musk, however.
Last year, Warren also demanded that the FTC investigate Twitter after Musk laid off a large percentage of the bloated company.
The senator claimed that the move puts Twitter users at “risk.”
The feud between the two started in 2021 when Warren falsely accused Musk of “freeloading” off the taxpayer.
She appeared on national TV and made false claims about Musk not paying taxes.
Musk responded by bringing up Warren’s lies about her heritage after she was caught pretending to be Native American to boost her career.
Musk also called Warren “Senator Karen.”
“You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason,” he said in a viral Twitter post.
