Elon and Kash Patel Clash Over Classified Files
A flurry of Saturday emails show new strains in MAGA world
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Elon and Trump’s FBI Director Clash Over Classified Files
New FBI Director Kash Patel has broken with Elon Musk and the White House on its latest initiative, setting up a conflict between the world’s richest man and one of Donald Trump’s most loyal acolytes.
The email from OPM, blasted out to all government workers, asked for a list of five things they’d accomplished this past week.
“FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information, Patel wrote. “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”
A copy of the email was leaked to Progress Report.
Earlier this evening, the Office of Personnel Management sent an email to all government workers asking them to respond with a list of five things they’d accomplished over the past week. Employees were given a deadline of Monday night at 11:59pm to respond.
Musk announced on Saturday afternoon that the email would be forthcoming and that failing to reply would be considered a letter of resignation. The email itself, however, did not list that stipulation, creating confusion among some workers.
The email also instructed respondents not to send “any classified information, links, or attachments,” which would preclude many employees from responding with anything useful. In some cases, responding at all would be considered a violation of their NDAs, and possibly compromise national security.
Several employees I spoke with said that there is concern that even mundane, non-classified answers could lead to their dismissal. One suggested that Musk might use AI to scan emails for certain words that could trigger automatic firings. He’s already done exactly that in searching for anything that might be DEI-related, and training activities are said to be in his crosshairs, as well.
It was particularly worrisome to sources within government that the email from OPM was labeled as “External,” suggesting that it was sent by a non-governmental — and perhaps very hackable — server.
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Might be a bit of an oopsie pushing Kash through
The only brown people Elon will work with are IT. Guys
Interesting story JZ. But I believe that the damage done already has hacked many governmental systems. No one will be able to tell if many directives coming out are real or from elsewhere. Perhaps that is on purpose for avoid culpability. But too many people are witnesses to what is and has occurred. I hope all the sorry bastards turn on each other! The sooner, the better!!!