Declassified Email Shows FBI Agent Proposed Criminal Probe of Musk

A former FBI special agent recommended opening a criminal investigation into Elon Musk last year over a government efficiency directive that asked federal employees to list their weekly accomplishments, according to a declassified email released by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The disclosure, made public during a congressional oversight hearing on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, adds a new dimension to ongoing inquiries into political conduct within federal law enforcement. The email, dated February 22, 2025, shows then-Special Agent Kevin Gounaud proposing a criminal case against Musk and officials at the Office of Personnel Management. Gounaud argued that the directive, which Musk promoted on his social media platform X, encouraged thousands of employees to violate security policy by transmitting sensitive information outside a strict need-to-know. He also suggested Musk's ownership of X created a conflict of interest and potential personal enrichment. "I would like to recommend the opening of a criminal matter on the persons at OPM who approved the transmission of the earlier email," Gounaud wrote to a colleague. "That person in conspiracy with Elon Musk...