Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

I am willing to bet that someone in the Ukrainian foreign ministry was aware of this law, and then had some pointed questions for the US State Department on whether or not Elon’s refusal to share intelligence should be taken as an official US position on the matter, and if not, why Elon/SpaceX’s behavior is effectively contradicting official US policy.

This should get interesting, and it could put Elon in some real legal jeopardy on a matter that the US tends to not fuck around with.

[–] HubertManne@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How does that relate to, oh I don't know? Lets say congress budgeted and authorized money for a foreign government but then a president told that government he would not release the money till they did him a personal favor.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 year ago

While that’s complete bullshit and absolutely an abuse of the system as it’s intended to function, it’s also technically legal, because the person occupying the office of the president at the time (and I know exactly to whom you’re referring) was a duly elected officer of the government - not to mention, the head of state.

The difference here is that Elon was never elected or appointed to any role in the US government, and thus cannot serve as an official representative of the US in any capacity. The law is quite clear and unambiguous on that point.

[–] circuscritic@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Unlikely. SpaceX and Starlink are critical parts of the DOD's current, and future plans. Or rather, their capabilities are. Additionally, the USGOV isn't known for holding billionaires to account, but even if they made an exception, don't hold your breath. The earliest it would happen is AFTER another defense contractor builds out equivalent capabilities and infrastructure to support the DOD.