Senate Democrats are pushing for an investigation into President Trump and adviser Elon Musk’s Tesla pitch at the White House this week, alleging the media event touting the Musk-owned automaker violates federal ethics laws.
Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff (Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) wrote in a joint letter to the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) that they believe “Musk — in conjunction with President Trump — is using his official role and the public resources of the White House to promote his car company.”
“Ethics laws on the misuse of government positions serve a practical purpose,” they wrote in the letter Thursday, questioning the use of time and resources to promote Musk’s business interests. “Enforcement of these laws is of the utmost importance.”
Federal ethics laws prohibit White House employees from using their government roles to endorse or promote private companies. The regulation does not apply to the president, though.
Musk is serving as a special governmental employee under Trump’s direction, which shields him from some ethics requirements, but the senators said they consider the Tesla promotion from a prominent federal government role a violation.
Standing alongside Musk in front of five Tesla electric vehicles, including one of the company’s discernible Cybertrucks, in the White House driveway Tuesday, Trump announced he was cutting a personal check to get his own Tesla.
“I’m gonna buy because number one, it’s a great product. As good as it gets,” Trump told reporters. “Number two, because this man [Elon Musk] has devoted his energy and his life to doing this, and I think he has been treated unfairly.”
Musk then showed off some of the cars’ features as he and Trump looked over the vehicles.
“All these cars have won several awards,” Musk said. “They’re great cars, and they’re American-made.”
Observers quickly likened the event to a car show or unpaid advertisement for Musk’s business.
“President Trump assisted in the promotion. While holding notes explaining the prices and
features of various Tesla products, the President announced that, although he does not drive, he would buy a Tesla and allow his staff to drive it,” the senators wrote.
“President Trump made the personal decision to buy a Tesla, at a market rate,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told The Hill when asked about the senators’ ethics concerns.
The OGE didn’t immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Trump has urged his supporters to purchase Tesla vehicles as a show of support for the tech mogul, who has faced backlash for his role in the administration’s sweeping cost-cutting measures, including mass firings of federal workers, the shuttering of foreign aid programs and holds on federal funds.
The president said he wanted to “make a statement” by buying a Tesla, and he floated labeling those who carry out violence at the carmaker’s showrooms as domestic terrorists.
The previous Trump administration faced similar accusations around staffers promoting private businesses, with the OGE at the time warning Trump’s team about the rules.
During Trump’s first term, top adviser Kellyanne Conway faced ethics complaints for promoting Ivanka Trump’s clothing line as the company faced backlash over her role in her father’s first administration.
“I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody,” Conway said during a 2017 appearance on Fox News. “You can find it online.”
Walter Shaub, then-head of the OEG, recommended that Conway face disciplinary action over the product promo, but the White House pushed back on the watchdog recommendation. Shaub announced his early retirement from the ethics office a few weeks later.
“I can’t know what their intention is. I know that the effect is that there’s an appearance that the businesses are profiting from his occupying the presidency,” Shaub said in a CBS News interview after stepping down.
The Senate Democrats in their letter Thursday pushed for the OGE to recommend an ethics probe to “determine whether Mr. Musk has violated federal ethics laws and whether additional action is warranted.”
