US Attorney Suggests Prosecutions Coming Over ‘Targeting’ of DOGE Employees

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk listens as President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington on Nov. 13, 2024. Allison Robbert/Pool via Reuters

The acting U.S. attorney for the District of Colombia said Monday that groups or individuals may have violated laws by targeting workers with Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) and that he’s preparing to take action.

In a statement posted on X, Acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin said that after an “initial review of evidence,” his office contacted the FBI and other law enforcement agencies “to proceed rapidly” against people who were “targeting DOGE employees.”

“We also have our prosecutors preparing,” the statement said.

Martin’s statement did not provide any names or other information. It’s also not clear what laws were violated, and Martin did not describe the nature of the threats.

Hours before that statement, Martin released a letter directed to Musk that his office will “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”

“We must keep all of our American government employees safe, and we must protect the American people’s property,” he wrote, further saying that DOGE staff had been “targeted publicly.”

While Martin did not go into detail about how DOGE staff were being targeted, a report from Wired magazine published earlier this week, which cited information found on a public database, claimed to have found six individuals who were working for Musk’s organization.

DOGE was announced as an ambitious effort to cut the federal workforce and slash billions in government spending, but Democratic critics say it is being used to target agencies and government programs viewed as out of step with President Donald Trump’s agenda and policies.

“At this time I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting the DOGE work and DOGE workers,” Martin also said. “Any threats, confrontations or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws.”

Musk posted a thank-you message in response to Martin’s message on his social media platform X.

Also on Monday, the Tesla CEO reposted a series of screenshots from a Reddit sub-forum in which some users had called for the execution of individuals working at DOGE.

“They have broken the law,” he wrote.

That Reddit sub-forum, “WhitePeopleTwitter,” was temporarily banned this week “due to a prevalence of violent content,” according to a message posted on the website.

“Inciting and glorifying violence or doxing are against Reddit’s platform-wide Rules,” the message reads.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has embarked on a massive government makeover, firing and sidelining hundreds of government workers in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy.

The White House on Monday confirmed Musk has been designated as a “special government employee,” which means he is not required to publicly file financial disclosures.

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics professor at the Washington University School of Law, said that Musk’s new designation could be a way to avoid disclosing publicly his finances and any conflicts.

“If they do not make public his financial disclosure, it may make it impossible for the public and nongovernmental organizations and journalists to hold him and the government accountable and make sure he does not participate in matters where he has conflicts,” she said.

Reuters contributed to this report.