Secretary Pete Hegseth Asked Point Blank If He Invited Elon Musk To Pentagon To Discuss War Plans With China

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During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI) asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about Elon Musk being invited to the Pentagon.

Transcript

00:00You're not recognized as a gentlelady from Hawaii, Mr. Kuda.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I agree we've had many performances today, but what we'd like is some answers.

00:08Mr. Secretary, did you invite Elon Musk for a briefing on war plans with China to the Pentagon?

00:15Yes or no is simple.

00:17There's been a lot of hyperbole and incorrect reporting around that situation,

00:23but we did invite Elon over to come talk to us generally, but there was no war plans being discussed.

00:30Okay, so whose idea was it to invite him to the Pentagon for a briefing?

00:35You mentioned you served at the pleasure of the President.

00:37Was it the President's will to have him come and be briefed?

00:41As you know, at that time, Elon Musk was leading up Doge efforts,

00:45and we've taken a great investment in Doge at DOD,

00:49and so getting his input on how we make DOD more efficient.

00:52makes a great deal of sense.

00:54Okay, but don't you think it's a conflict of interest for the world's richest man?

00:59Many of the contracts that the DOD is engaged in,

01:02billions of dollars of contracts going to his company,

01:06and he is, as to your point, was leading Doge,

01:09which was involved in cutting hundreds of contracts,

01:12but also becoming intimately aware of the platforms and the requirements

01:15that would be given out for new contracts.

01:17Did you not think it was a conflict of interest to invite someone with financial interest?

01:22And to the Pentagon to have first-hand knowledge of what they could then bid on

01:26for their own, you know, enrichment.

01:29Ma'am, it was just an informal discussion,

01:31but I'll tell you, anyone that knows our Defense Department knows,

01:34we show no preference to any company other than what your capabilities are,

01:37and we're grateful for the places where his companies benefit our national defense.

01:42So for a $280 million donation,

01:46the world's richest man with companies intimately linked and involved in billion-dollar contracts

01:50with the Department of Defense gain access into the Pentagon.

01:55So would you say that any company right now that has multi-billion-dollar contracts

02:01to the Department of Defense has access to the Pentagon right now?

02:04One-hour briefings with you, personally.

02:06On the regular basis, I meet with many people and many different companies

02:11and many different aspects of our defense industrial base

02:14to ensure we have the best possible capabilities.

02:17It would be imprudent to do that.

02:18Well, I'm sure for an investment of $280 million,

02:21Elon's investors are quite happy that it's come out into the billions.

02:24I want to jump in.

02:25I want to jump in.

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