New York: Elon Musk is under investigation by the U.S. Secret Service following a tweet referencing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The probe stems from Musk’s post, made in response to a user asking, “Why do they want to kill Donald Trump?” The billionaire tech mogul, who has 198 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), tweeted: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala???”
Threatening the U.S. president or vice president is a felony offense under federal law, punishable by heavy fines or up to five years in prison. While Musk has since deleted the post following a wave of backlash on the platform, he claimed that the comment was intended as a joke.
Musk has yet to respond publicly to Bloomberg’s report. According to the outlet, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were sent to the Secret Service’s Protective Intelligence and Assessment Division, Office of Protective Operations, and Office of Investigations to gather documents and emails related to Musk’s controversial post.
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The Secret Service reportedly responded by stating that all records concerning Musk were “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and are being withheld to avoid interfering with ongoing investigations. Nate Herring, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, commented, “The Secret Service is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk. As a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees.”
Musk’s post, although deleted, continues to attract attention as concerns about social media’s influence and its boundaries on free speech remain under scrutiny. The Secret Service’s investigation will determine whether further legal action against the Tesla CEO will be pursued.
