Thread by @ThePlumLineGS

Important development: Senate Dems are demanding that the Pentagon turn over information about Elon Musk's Starlink contracts with the US military, to investigate whether there are safeguards in them to prevent another version of Musk's recent fiasco.

shaheen.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

Staffers on the Senate Armed Services Committee recently reached out to the Pentagon for info on Starlink's contracts with the US military, a Dem aide tells me. The committee's chair, Sen. Jack Reed, says it is "aggressively probing" the Musk/Ukraine fiasco "from every angle."

The Musk/Ukraine fiasco has revealed something truly disconcerting: We know almost nothing about these contracts with the US military, even though Musk, as we have now seen, wields immense influence over Ukraine's ability to defend itself from the Russian invasion.

The new letter from Senate Dems is highly illuminating and important, because it shows how Dems will try to piece together a fuller understanding of Musk's influence and whether Starlink's contracts with the Defense Department have adequate safeguards built into them.

For instance, Senate Dems are demanding a full accounting of whether contracts like Starlink's safeguard against the provider making unilateral decisions to suspend service, as Musk apparently did. They also demand details on the Musk/Ukraine incident:

“We are deeply concerned with the ability and willingness of SpaceX to interrupt their service at Mr. Musk’s whim and for the purpose of handcuffing a sovereign country’s self-defense, effectively defending Russian interests,” Dems write, citing "grave national security risks."

And this is really striking: Senate Dems demand that the Defense Department clarify what actions they are taking to "prevent further dangerous meddling."

That's Senate-ese for: Do you fear Musk could do this again, doing even more damage, and what are you doing about it?

These fears reflect an unsettling confluence of big events. Aides are worried about the Pentagon's reliance on ever-more-sophisticated commercial technologies. Now add the immense influence of the erratic Musk, and it's clear Congress must bring more oversight to such contracts.

In short, Musk's fiasco has exposed a huge hole in our knowledge of how his influence actually works and what guardrails are there to prevent him from doing this kind of damage. This, even as his companies haul in huge sums from government contracts. Congress must step up. FIN