Some of 卐LON's claims are proven false; plenty more are completely unsupported. This report is from Forbes.
Billionaire government efficiency chief Elon Musk has repeatedly spread baseless or false claims about government spending, including by the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies, making various unsupported allegations of criminal activity and a recent misleading claim that disaster relief funds were spent to house migrants in “luxury hotels” in New York.
Did The Government Pay Reuters For “social Deception?”
Musk reposted a claim on X made by Mario Nawfal, who has 2 million followers and hosts the “Roundtable Show” on X Spaces, who alleged the Department of Defense made a $9 million payment to Reuters for a “large scale social deception” project, citing the USASpending.gov website. Though the Department of Defense did make a $9 million payment, it was actually issued to Thomson Reuters Special Services—the data and research arm of Reuters, not the newsroom—and the project was not to deceive society, as Musk’s post may imply. The project, according to the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was to fund research for “automated defense against social engineering attacks.” Trump also attacked “Radical Left Reuters” on Truth Social and demanded the organization return the money—though the payment was issued during his first term.
Did Fema Spend $59 Million On Housing Migrants In Nyc Luxury Hotels?
No. Although FEMA did allocate $59 million to New York last week as part of a payment package approved last year, Musk made multiple misleading claims about the payment in a post on X on Monday. Contrary to Musk’s post, the money sent to New York was not “disaster relief” and came from a pool of money separate from FEMA’s disaster efforts. The money was approved by Congress last year as part of the Shelter and Services Program, which FEMA administers alongside the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. New York was allocated about $237 million as a partial reimbursement for the about $7 billion it has spent on housing migrants, The New York Times reported, and a $59 million payment was made last week as part of this allocation. Of that payment, about $19 million was spent on hotel fees, but contrary to Musk’s post, New York officials said these payments were not made on luxury hotels. Also unlike Musk’s post, New York officials said they have not received any request to return the money.
Are Anti-Doge Protests Funded By Ngos?
Musk amplified an unproven speculative claim, made without evidence by the world’s most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan, in a post on X on Tuesday, claiming “so many fake protests” against Musk and DOGE are “paid for by the same corrupt NGOs that @DOGE is defunding.” Musk’s post, viewed more than 11 million times, contained a clip from Rogan’s podcast released earlier this week in which he said he “guarantees” anti-Musk protests are “organized by the same people that are going to lose a shitload of money based on all these discoveries at DOGE.” Rogan continued to make false or misleading claims, including that USAID funded a lab that “invented” COVID-19, and provided no evidence for USAID or any other government agency or NGO funding anti-Musk protests. Rogan baselessly claimed NGOs are “using their access to these mailing lists” and are “mobilizing other NGOs” to organize protests, without naming any specific organizations or protests. Protests against the Trump administration, Musk and DOGE have been held in multiple states in recent weeks, including in California, Minnesota, Michigan and Texas. Some of these protesters have organized online with the hashtag #buildtheresistance, the Los Angeles Times reported, but there’s no evidence to suggest these protests were funded by NGOs or agencies that DOGE plans to defund.
Are Bureaucrats Making “tens Of Millions” On Taxpayer Money?
Musk claimed while taking questions from reporters at the White House on Tuesday that federal employees, including those at USAID, “managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars” while working for the federal government, accusing them of profiting off of taxpayer money. He did not name names, but said “quite a few people,” whom he called “fraudsters,” were receiving “kickbacks.” Musk offered no evidence of who is getting rich or by how much, and he did not elaborate on specific instances of any criminal activity, including fraud.
Is Usaid A Form Of “money Laundering?”
There’s no evidence to suggest USAID has engaged in money laundering. On Saturday afternoon, Musk reposted a claim on X that suggested USAID was a “form of money laundering tax payers money into far-left organizations,” adding: “Absolutely,” though neither poster offered sources or factual information. Although Republicans have criticized the organization for alleged wasteful spending, there’s no evidence that USAID was engaging in criminal behavior to support left-wing organizations.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/02/10/elon-musk-pushes-false-claim-ex-usaid-chief-earned-23-million-the-biggest-doge-hoaxes-spread-on-x/
