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submitted 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) by HowRu68@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is now central to Donald Trump’s election campaign, has been in regular contact with Vladimir Putin for the past two years, according to a report in the US.

The Wall Street Journal, citing several in-post and former US, European and Russian officials, reported that the conversations between the two men ranged from the personal to the geopolitical and included a request from the Russian leader not to activate his Starlink ​​satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favour to the Chinese leader and Putin ally, Xi Jinping.

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[-] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 1 points 12 minutes ago

Is t there a law that says private citizens shouldn’t be representing the US with foreign leaders?

[-] eronth@lemmy.world 1 points 9 minutes ago
[-] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 minutes ago

I wonder if musk envy’s Putin or the other way around, maybe it’s both?

[-] skeptomatic@lemmy.ca 5 points 35 minutes ago

Wouldn't surprise me if Putin is deploying underage honey-trapping on these guys like Trump/Elon/Tucker/etc., covertly filming it, and then blackmail owning them thereafter.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 66 points 6 hours ago

Now there’s an immigrant destroying the country

[-] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 159 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Isn't this espionage/treason? He has security clearance, he should not have contact with foreign government officials or sabotage our allies.

[-] kungen@feddit.nu 6 points 2 hours ago

Or at the least, a violation of the Logan Act.

[-] AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world 9 points 3 hours ago

Also a potential breach of ITAR.

[-] thejml@lemm.ee 88 points 8 hours ago

Absolutely, but he’s rich so it’s okay.

[-] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 20 points 6 hours ago

Rich and a Republican

[-] subignition@fedia.io 48 points 8 hours ago

Death penalty for treason would be a fitting end to Musk's story, I think. It doesn't look like anyone has gotten a death sentence under federal treason laws since the Civil War, though.

The terms used in the definition derive from English legal tradition, specifically the Treason Act 1351. Levying war means the assembly of armed people to overthrow the government or to resist its laws. Enemies are subjects of a foreign government that is in open hostility with the United States.[6] Treason does not distinguish between participants and accessories; all persons who rebel or intentionally give aid to hostilities are subject to the same charge. source

Russia might not meet the bar for "open hostility", I'm not sure how that is defined. This layman sure as hell thinks Trump and the January 6 mob fall into the definition of 'levying war' though. And interestingly a conviction of treason also forfeits your right to hold public office, even if your punishment is prison instead of death

[-] xenoclast@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I'd do it for free right now if I were able to be in a room with him while I was holding a gun.

Honestly I wouldn't need to be armed. I definitely want him gone more than he wants to have more money.

So, like, a lot.

The murder trial would be amazing. I'd be famous forever.

[-] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 15 points 8 hours ago
[-] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 58 points 8 hours ago

A billionaire might have done something illegal and possibly treasonous?

I wonder if anyone will follow through on this.

[-] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 hour ago

I'm sure Trump will follow through with a pardon as he hands the US to Russia

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 6 points 7 hours ago

I would understand it if Musk was in anyway threatening. But he's obviously a child trying to sit at the adult table. All anyone has to do is insult him at grade school level and he flinches.

Him and most of the other wackos right now are like Bond villain D tier henchmen. How is no one taking these morons down? Is this really how the people in power cave, by letting these fools run free?

He has money.

People want money.

[-] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 32 points 7 hours ago

As silly as it sounds .... there was a similar argument for the National Socialist Party in Germany in the 1930s. Many people thought they were a joke and weren't taken seriously at first.

Put enough money, finances and marketing behind a movement no matter how insane it is and it can quickly go out of control.

What people don't realize is that it is money and finance that make these movements possible. They don't just appear out of thin air through the force of one personality or the cult following of one person. It takes money to sell an idea and the more money you spend on it, the bigger the idea will become. These nut jobs are being funnelled millions of dollars either directly or indirectly to spread their garbage. Part of the problem is the insane personality that everyone glorifies ... the greatest problem are the millionaires and billionaires and corporations that fund these idiots to push their own agenda from the background.

[-] irreticent@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

These nut jobs are being funnelled millions of dollars either directly or indirectly to spread their garbage.

In related news:

"Last week, the Justice Department alleged that Russian state media producers funneled nearly $10 million to an unnamed Tennessee-based company, later determined by CNN to be Tenet Media, to create and amplify content that often featured narratives and themes supported by the Kremlin. Tenet Media boasts a slate of high-profile right-wing, pro-Trump commentators including Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson and several others."

They claim to have been duped yet they're still keeping the money and still pushing the propaganda. Seems legit.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 10 points 6 hours ago

When nobody stops the clown coup they eventually find their way into running the damn circus. Silliness is no excuse for evil, nor is general incompetence. There’s a reason that attempted murder is a crime.

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 3 points 5 hours ago
[-] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 70 points 8 hours ago

So combined with his interjection into politics, wouldn’t this be two serious crimes he's committed?

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 46 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Yeah, but he has a lot of money so it is fine.

Everything is fine.

[-] grubbyweasel@sh.itjust.works 25 points 8 hours ago

what does the word crime even mean anymore

[-] cmoney@lemmy.world 48 points 8 hours ago

It's when poor people do something the wealthy don't like.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 74 points 9 hours ago

Someone remind me what happened involving Musk almost exactly two years ago... I'm pretty sure something relevant happened on October 28, 2022... I remember a little bird chirping in my ear...

[-] HowRu68@lemmy.world 30 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

And, I even wonder if anyone would be surprised by this news.

[-] dephyre@lemmy.world 18 points 7 hours ago

Wouldn't this be a violation of the Logan Act?

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 21 points 7 hours ago

Apparently, in the 21st century, you can violate the Logan Act as much as you like.

[-] errer@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago

When you run starlink they let you do it. You can do anything.

[-] kokesh@lemmy.world 10 points 7 hours ago

His businesses should be barred from getting any kind of government contracts. ISS would be hard, but definitely no army contracts, etc.

[-] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 minutes ago

Nah, just force him to sell spaceX.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 14 points 8 hours ago

Implications for the ongoing election as well as the war in Ukraine. Starlink comms likely provide important intelligence that Putin could use.

[-] TommySoda@lemmy.world 10 points 8 hours ago
[-] ravhall@discuss.online 4 points 7 hours ago

Republicans get a boner.

[-] don@lemm.ee 5 points 8 hours ago

lol sure okay next you be telling me water usually seeks it lowest point and makes most things it touches wet 🤡

[-] Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee 0 points 7 hours ago

I thought the world's richest man was Bernard Arnault now?

[-] uberdroog@lemmy.world -3 points 7 hours ago

He is a national security threat. We need to burn this sham of a system down. Kinda see where the GOP is coming from now...i mean fuck fascism but also...WTF

[-] Captainvaqina@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 hours ago

He IS one with the GOP.

this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
470 points (99.4% liked)

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