Now that Republicans have been appropriately repudiated by voters at both the state and federal levels — in large part for their complicity in the brazen lawlessness of the presidency of Donald Trump — congressional investigations are certain to follow. Although I would never bet against Democrats’ ability to squander an opportunity, the upside to demanding accountability for the myriad suspected crimes committed by official and unofficial members of the Trump administration far outweighs whatever motivates the fear that investigations run the risk of “making a martyr of Trump.”
Where to begin?
The brazen, in-broad-daylight killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by masked immigration agents — which still haven’t been subject to any independent investigation?
DOGE’s mostly young and male Musk superfans ransacked the government illegally. They launched a witch hunt against jobs, grants and contracts with prohibited words like “bias,” “woman” and “immigration.”
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner acting as a top diplomat — negotiating wars, arms deals and resort-building all at once — despite not having been confirmed by the Senate or being subject to any oversight, and allegedly pocketing billions from foreign governments? Or Trump and his sons becoming billions richer over the past two years, largely from crypto deals?
How about the due process-free killings of suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean, under the dubious and unproven pretext that they are war combatants?
It’s an embarrassment of riches for anyone who would like to see the corrupt, violent and powerful be subject to the same laws as the rest of us little people.
But you can’t investigate the Trump administration’s illicit entanglements without looking into the carnage wreaked by America’s wealthiest corporate welfare queen, Elon Musk, and his briefly existing Department of Government Efficiency. No single person not named Donald Trump is as responsible for the cynical and incompetent destruction of government agencies with unsexy yet crucially important functions.
The Tesla-X-SpaceX honcho — notorious for his deranged tantrums and overtly white nationalist political leanings — was the biggest donor to PACs supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign, contributing more than $250 million. Since then, his reported net worth has more than doubled.
In 2026, Musk spent almost half a billion on Republican candidates. Not only did Democrats romp to victory anyway, but several, like Sen.-elect James Talarico of Texas, did so while running against Musk himself. Now the billionaire-worshipping pundit class is trying to set up a straw man narrative: that Musk’s political spending is the only reason anyone would investigate his myriad conflicts of interest during DOGE’s rampage, or the criminality of its actions.
Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle wrote on X the day after the midterms: “While I think investigations of corruption are in order, full-throated vengeance against Trump allies for being Trump allies would be corrosive and politically unwise.”
“Fair to look into whether DOGE dotted all the i’s and crossed the t’s,” she added. “Not fair to punish Elon Musk for his support of Trump in elections, which is his first amendment right.”
Trump has already said that Democrats who have started sending oversight letters since the election should be imprisoned, and echoed McArdle’s contention that people are being targeted “just because they happen to be Republicans, or Republican supporters.” And now the White House and the Justice Department are preemptively sending threatening letters to Democrats who have called for investigations.
It’s quite the accusation, though it doesn’t appear to be backed by any meaningful evidence. No one of note, anywhere that I’ve seen, has suggested “vengeance against Trump allies for being Trump allies” or argued that Musk broke laws by spending half a billion on losing candidates. (He did recently settle several lawsuits over his illegal cash giveaways to voters in 2024, though.)
DOGE’s acolytes stole our Social Security data. And though they had been using unauthorized methods of communication the entire time, they made sure to burn the last documents on their way out the door.
There are many specifically cited reasons to investigate, including alleged pay-to-play corruption and Musk’s apparent undue influence over the U.S. military. And the primary issue with Musk’s DOGE is that the agency didn’t dot any i’s or cross any t’s at all. That’s the whole point.
DOGE’s mostly young and male Musk superfans ransacked the government illegally. They launched a witch hunt against jobs, grants and contracts with prohibited words like “bias,” “woman” and “immigration.” They gutted numerous agencies that do the boring but crucially important work of keeping modern society humming along — like preventing forest fires, nuclear proliferation, airplane crashes and terrorism.
They did all this with no transparency. And they didn’t save a dime. In fact, even as they used artificial intelligence to find targets to destroy, they probably cost us billions, and left a mess in their wake that will take decades to repair. (Musk denied allegations of impropriety in February 2025, but has since taken a more combative stance by apparently threatening Democrats in a X post: “Live by the sword, die by the sword. Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets ….”)
DOGE destroyed America’s soft power by killing the U.S. Agency for International Development, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands (using the most conservative estimates) and leaving a power vacuum filled by warlords and factions loyal to China. Then DOGE’s acolytes stole our Social Security data. And though they had been using unauthorized methods of communication the entire time, they made sure to burn the last documents on their way out the door.
Demanding criminal investigations of these unprecedented abuses of unauthorized power — including of Musk’s — is the moderate position.
Yes, there is proposed legislation that would restrict actors like Musk, the recipient of billions of dollars in government contracts, from making limitless contributions to the elected officials who gave him those contracts. (¡Qué horror!) But I couldn’t find a single instance of an elected official or a prominent commentator arguing that Musk’s spending is criminally suspect. It is, frankly, an unserious argument that shouldn’t be humored for a moment.
Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., posted the day before the elections, “Elon Musk waved a chainsaw on stage and laughed while he fired public servants and gutted the services Americans rely on. Then he lied to the American people about the savings. He must answer for it under oath.” That’s not “lawfare,” that’s an almost banal observation about what happened and what should happen.
Ignore the desperate, fading president’s complaints and threats. And pay no mind the oligarch groupies who imply that the Constitution shouldn’t apply to the richest people in history. Investigate Elon Musk and every thieving vandal who left behind fingerprints while doing DOGE’s dirty work.
The post Elon Musk’s campaign spending isn’t why he’ll be investigated. DOGE’s lawlessness is. appeared first on MS NOW.
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