Elon Musk's access to government secrets questioned after bizarre cannabis interview

Andrew Griffin
Monday 10 September 2018 13:18 EDT
Comments
Elon Musk smokes marijuana live on web show and talks about dead horses

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Elon Musk has access to some of the government's most important secrets. And that is getting to be a worry.

The SpaceX boss has high-level security clearance as a result of his work with the rocket firm he founded and which carries sometimes mysterious government hardware up into space.

But that same clearance comes with some stipulations, including a prohibition on smoking marijuana. And Mr Musk very publicly did that when he appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast in a livestreamed appearance that also saw him drink whiskey, wield a sword and ponder what it is like to be a horse.

After that video surfaced, numerous reports suggested that the Air Force was reconsidering Mr Musk's government clearance. Fox Business Network and CNBC both reported that officials were looking into his smoking, as well as potentially his other behaviour.

It appears that any possible investigation isn't happening yet. But Air Force spokespeople did not rule it out.

“It’s inaccurate that there is an investigation," one told The Verge. "We’ll need time to determine the facts and the appropriate process to handle the situation,”

The reports came at the end of a very bad week for Mr Musk, which as well as the bizarre video also saw two high-profile executives leave Tesla. That in turn led the company's stock to plunge.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in