Elon Musk, accused of “manual” corruption because of his Starlink business, in a letter of American senators

Starlink, the constellation of Elon Musk's satellite satellites, operated by his SpaceX spatial company, attracted the attention of American legismen. Democratic senators have requested an investigation to determine if the Trump administration uses commercial negotiations to favor Musk, Gizmodo reports.

In a letter to the federal officials, including the Attorney General Pam Bondi and the interim director of the US Government Ethics Office, Jamieson Greer, a group of democratic senators wrote:

“It is possible for Musk to use his official role and the proximity of the president as a means of influence in personal and financial interest-even if this comes to the detriment of American consumers and the interests of the nation's foreign policy.”

The letter comes shortly after Musk accompanying Trump in Saudi Arabia, on the first external visit of the president of his second term, and announced the approval of the Starlink service in the country in the Persian Gulf, while the White House announced the latest defense and trade agreements.

Starlink's business flourished after Donald Trump's return to the White House

The letter signed by important democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Mark Warner and Jeanne Shaheen, recalled that Starlink has an “ambitious goal” to win a million new customers every year. However, Starlink “had difficulty in obtaining agreements to operate in certain emerging markets”, and its growth seemed slow last year. But things have changed in the meantime.

“Since President Trump has taken over the mandate, and Musk has become one of his main counselors, Starlink has registered an avalanche of new countries that allowed the company to enter their markets,” the senators wrote.

For example, Lesotho has given Musk's first license for satellite internet services shortly after Trump imposed extremely high customs duties. Senators also stressed recent agreements with other countries “seeking to be exempted from threatening unpredictable customs duties imposed by the Trump administration”, including India, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

The letter refers specifically to two articles in The Washington Post. The first is an editorial in which it is detailed that a Bangladesh official met with Musk at the White House in February, immediately after a meeting for commercial discussions.

Musk then suggested that the country “could not get favorable commercial conditions” if it does not allow Starlink access to Bangladesh.

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The second article describes how internal documents obtained by The Washington Post show that officials “have been pressuring nations to eliminate obstacles from American satellite companies, often mentioning explicitly.”

Although there is no evidence that the Trump administration “has explicitly demanded favors for Starink in exchange for reducing customs duties”, the journalists from The Post reported that the State Department asked officials to press for regulatory approvals.

“To suggest a foreign government to adopt Starlink in exchange for a relaxation of customs duties, it seems a case of corruption manual,” the senators wrote, requesting an investigation to determine if the Trump administration officials “have been pursuing a Quid-PRO-QUO type exchange between Starlink access and commercial favors, in violation of the federal laws.”

In addition, the senators wrote that the involvement of the state department raises additional concerns, including if “these officials undermine the public interest in favor of Musk's personal financial interests during negotiations for new commercial agreements – and if they were guided by [Musk] or [Trump] to do this. “

The senators asked the inspector general of the State Department to investigate this issue.