Elon Musk’s ongoing scandal, which he dubbed “Elongate,” didn’t detour him from jumping on the “Russiagate” bandwagon over the weekend.
A Twitter user asked Musk if he would crack down on disinformation after finalizing the platform purchase.
“I would be interested to know if, when you receive control over the company, anything was done with this at any level. Pls advise soonest,” the user wrote to Musk.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO called out Hillary Clinton’s 2016 tweet as a “campaign hoax” in response.
You are absolutely correct. That tweet is a Clinton campaign hoax for which their campaign lawyer is undergoing a criminal trial. https://t.co/avtjEdthmA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2022
The 2016 Clinton tweet heralded computer scientists’ discovery of a covert server in Trump’s organization. It referenced a statement from Jake Sullivan, then one of Clinton’s top aides. Sullivan is now the National Security Advisor in the Biden Administration.
John Durham’s probe into the case alleging former President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia yielded charges against Michael Sussman, Clinton’s lawyer, for lying to the FBI. Durham’s team says Sussman “manipulated” the federal agency to sway the election outcome.
Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager Robby Mook took the stand during the trial last week. He testified that Clinton authorized the sharing of computer data, now debunked, that purportedly linked Trump to a Russian bank.
Computer scientists have apparently uncovered a covert server linking the Trump Organization to a Russian-based bank. pic.twitter.com/8f8n9xMzUU
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 1, 2016
While under cross-examination, Mook, a defense witness for Sussman, said that his discussion with Clinton went like, “Hey, we have this and we want to share it with a reporter,” he said. “She agreed to that.”
He also acknowledged that the campaign had not vetted the information.
“Part of the point of giving it to a reporter was they could run it down further,” he said. “A reporter could vet the information and then decide to print it.”
