MaddowBlog-Asked about Musk's conflicts, Trump offers an unintentionally amusing answer

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Last week, the White House said the billionaire would police his own conflicts of interest. This week, the president pitched a new plan, which is worse.
https://bsky.app/profile/belleofliberty.bsky.social/post/3li6pi2n4wc2g
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-says-personally-checking-ensure-musk-actions-dont-pose-conflict-rcna192259

The New Republic added, “Several parts of Musk’s businesses concern India. The tech mogul is trying to get access for his Starlink satellite internet service in the country, and is fighting with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who has competing interests. Musk also is trying to sell low-cost Tesla vehicles in India and get past the country’s tariffs on electric vehicles.”.....

Asked about the underlying problem last week, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “f Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding that DOGE is overseeing, then Elon will excuse himself from those contracts.”

Or put another way, Team Trump’s plan to address Musk’s potential conflicts of interest, as of last week, was to allow Musk to police himself.

This week, as The Washington Post reported, the president apparently has a new plan.

President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that he is personally checking to ensure that billionaire Elon Musk, whom he has tasked with leading the U.S. DOGE Service, is not engaging in government matters that pose a conflict of interest for his companies. ... The president also claimed that he was personally checking to ensure that Musk had no conflicts of interest and said Musk answers to him.

Ah. So the White House’s solution to Musk’s obvious conflict-of-interest problem is to have the sitting U.S. president — who, presumably, keeps pretty busy with his day job — personally familiarizing himself with the details of his megadonor’s business empire and government contracts, while simultaneously scrutinizing the individual decisions made by Musk and his many Department of Government Efficiency surrogates.

I don’t mean to sound picky, but if this plan is intended to resolve the controversy, it’s badly flawed.

[Attilatheblond]

1. Sure, because that works so well with justices on the Supreme Court.

The whole point of the decades-long efforts to put puppets in places where their own conflicts of interests can't result in their removal is to keep building that power structure where the powers that be are the ones who decide what is or isn't a conflict.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. The Staffers Helping Elon Musk Dismantle and Downsize the U.S. Government, One Agency at a Time

Musk and his lieutenants are reshaping the government and its mission with the blessing of President Trump. ProPublica has confirmed the names and roles of more than 30 staffers affiliated with the billionaire.
https://bsky.app/profile/charlesornstein.bsky.social/post/3lhwstrvpsc2y

JUST PUBLISHED: The Staffers Helping Elon Musk Dismantle and Downsize the U.S. Government, One Agency at a Time

Link to tweet

https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-doge-staffers-additional-names

The Trump administration is not even a month old, but billionaire Elon Musk has already brought in dozens of staffers to help him change the face of the U.S. government. ProPublica has learned the names of nine additional employees connected to Musk’s government overhaul, adding to a tracker the news organization published last week.

The additional names help reveal Musk’s sudden and far-reaching influence across government, as these individuals have moved into a wide array of powerful posts — from chief information officers deciding government IT purchases, to seasoned lawyers helping the effort.

ProPublica has confirmed the names and roles of more than 30 Musk-affiliated staffers who are helping the world’s richest man dismantle or downsize federal agencies one by one. We have received hundreds of tips from readers. Many have helped us identify the people helping Musk, who has not been elected to any office, force out government employees and shutter federal offices.

Here is the list of Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
https://projects.propublica.org/elon-musk-doge-tracker/