Elon Musk responded late Monday to Senator Alex Padilla’s demand for an investigation, and he did it with the sort of crude one-liner that makes Washington’s press office reach for the smelling salts. Padilla posted “INVESTIGATE ELON MUSK” on X. Musk answered, “Investigate your wiener,” turning the California Democrat’s grand declaration into a brief exchange better suited to a schoolyard than a Senate feed.
The Gateway Pundit report says Democrats have made clear they intend to pursue Musk if they win the House or Senate this November. The stated targets include SpaceX, Tesla, and Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency. The political backdrop is Musk’s support for President Trump, along with his decision to challenge Washington and foreign-policy assumptions rather than politely nod at every demand.
The report says Musk is being accused of war crimes after shutting down Ukraine’s Starlink access, which had been used by Zelensky to bomb Russia. Musk defended the decision, saying, “Using Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone strikes to kill people has never been allowed, nor should it be,” and called Ukrainian President Zelensky an “evil warmonger.” His explanation leaves the argument focused on whether a civilian commercial network should be used for offensive strikes.
Politico reportedly covered plans to depose Musk, and a live show in Atlanta last week featured the left-wing publication The Bulwark discussing how Democrats might divide the subpoena work. Jonathan Last used language that was considerably less restrained than the usual congressional press release:
“This has a body count like a f*cking war criminal. We start with the US Congress, and it ends at The Hague for Elon Musk,” Jonathan Last said. “You’ve got $1 trillion, asshole? Great, you start spending it on lawyers.”
“There has been a series of meetings among House Democrats. Do you know what they’re doing? Yes. They’re carving up jurisdictions for who is going to subpoena him to testify before which of them for what,” he added.
“Elon, you motherf*cker, you better pack a lunch because your ass is gonna be living in the Capitol starting January of 2027.”
That is not a minor disagreement over paperwork. It is an open description of a congressional pressure campaign, complete with lawyers, subpoenas, and a trip to The Hague. Washington has never met a dramatic threat it could not make more theatrical, apparently.
The report included this Rumble video marker:
Musk had already issued a more ominous warning on X: “If they want to live by the sword, that is how they will die too,” according to the report. The article also recalls former Labor Secretary Robert Reich calling for Democrats to “Defund Musk” by taking his businesses and nationalizing them. Musk responded, “Stealing companies is a serious crime. Prison for Reich.” The response was short, but the underlying dispute was not. Government action against private companies is being discussed, while Musk is treating that prospect as criminal seizure.
After the Padilla post, Musk continued needling him in response to Katie Miller, the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The report says Miller exposed what it describes as an illegal scheme to interfere with the 2020 election. It also revisits a House Oversight investigation launched by Republicans into then-California Secretary of State Alex Padilla over a $35 million voter-turnout contract awarded to SKD Knickerbocker, a pro-Biden consulting firm with ties to the Biden presidential campaign.
California State Controller Betty Yee rejected the contract and the multi-million-dollar payment, but the firm still proceeded, leaving California with a large debt to the Democratic firm, according to the report. The committee said, “Awarding taxpayer money to a partisan firm with the potential to influence an election after the contractor has publicly advertised its work on behalf of a political candidate in that same election is a conflict of interest. This contract will undoubtedly provide a partisan firm the opportunity to use taxpayer money to influence the federal election. Additionally, there are serious questions about how the contract was awarded, whether the firm will have access to sensitive voter information, and if any of the firm’s employees affiliated with ‘Team Biden’ will be involved with the project.”
Musk’s latest jab was direct: “Sounds like Alex P🍕 knows a thing or two about being investigated,” he wrote. The joke was aimed at Padilla’s own history of facing scrutiny, at least as presented in the report. Senate posts, social media insults, congressional threats, and nationalization demands have now been thrown into the same political blender. That is quite a recipe for a serious governing debate.
The exchange was posted on X:
Musk’s later response was also posted on X:
For Musk, the answer to a growing list of threats is mockery and defiance. For Democrats, the report describes plans for subpoenas and investigations if they gain control of Congress. The public fight is about more than a social media insult, it is about whether political opponents can use government power to punish a businessman whose companies and public positions have become impossible for Washington to ignore.
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