Source: SpaceX, X, (Rep. Matt Gaetz, X) Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to explain why billionaire Elon Musk fac
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to explain why billionaire Elon Musk faces punishment for complying with federal law.
In a letter to Garland last week, the Fort Walton Beach Republican questioned the recent lawsuit the Justice Department filed against Musk’s company SpaceX.
As the Tampa Free Press has reported, the government claims Musk violated federal anti-discrimination laws by hiring only U.S. citizens and refusing jobs to foreign refugees and people granted asylum.
“The vast majority of Americans would see Elon Musk as a patriot seeking to pay higher wages and protect sensitive defense-contracting work from foreign theft,” Gaetz said in his letter.
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He also cited the federal law that supported Musk’s assertion that, as a federal contractor working with sensitive military-use technology, he must hire only Americans.
U.S. law says such companies are exempt from discrimination claims “because of citizenship status which is otherwise required in order to comply with law, regulation, or executive order, or required by Federal, State, or local government contract, or which the Attorney General determines to be essential for an employer to do business with an agency or department of the Federal, State, or local government.”
Gaetz noted that the government’s lawsuit alleges that “no law; regulation; executive order; provision of Federal, State or local government contract; or Attorney General determination justifies SpaceX’s pattern or practice of hiring discrimination against asylees and refugees.”
“Thus,” Gaetz continued, “rather than proving in a court of law that SpaceX’s and Mr. Musk’s statements about their legal obligations were pretextual (i.e., that they had no reasonable belief that federal law required their practice) you appear poised to take mens rea entirely out of this equation.”
Gaetz then wanted Garland to produce an “exhaustive” list of all laws, regulations, executive orders, and contracts that the Justice Department reviewed to file the case against Musk.
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He also wants Garland to support the claim in the government’s lawsuit by submitting a statement, provided under oath, that no state, federal, or local law, regulation, or contract prohibits companies producing sensitive, military-grade dual-use technology from hiring asylees or refugees.
Such a statement would directly conflict with the federal law Gaetz cited in his letter.
The congressman also demanded that Garland appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Sept. 20 to face questions about the Biden administration’s case against Musk.
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