Ex-FBI agent urged criminal probe of Elon Musk’s X use, likened it to Clinton email scandal
EXCLUSIVE: An ex-FBI agent sought to open an investigation into Elon Musk’s use of X while leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in 2025, likening his activity to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, according to an email exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the email sent by a now-former FBI agent that was first shared as a legally protected whistleblower disclosure to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.
The email, while not explicitly mentioning it, was sent after Musk set the controversial DOGE mandate requiring federal employees to report on five tasks they completed for their role each week.
The ex-FBI agent sent the email to a colleague in the CR-15 division, also known as the public corruption squad, on Feb. 22, 2025 — the same day Musk announced that all federal employees were being instructed to report productivity.
Musk made the announcement in an email, but also in a post on X, saying the report would come in the form of an email to give federal workers a chance to report how productive they were the previous week. If the email was ignored, Musk said, the federal government would interpret that as a resignation.
The email was also sent just two days after FBI Director Kash Patel was confirmed by the Senate to lead the bureau. Patel dismantled the CR-15 public corruption squad in October 2025.
The email, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, shows the agent requesting to open the probe into Musk in February 2025.
ELON MUSK SAYS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES MUST FILL OUT PRODUCTIVITY REPORTS OR RESIGN
"I would like to recommend the opening of a criminal 58 matter on the person(s) at OPM who approved the transmission of the earlier email," the agent wrote. "That person in conspiracy with Elon Musk (who is reportedly an SGE), in addition to wasting a colossal amount of official time, encouraged, abetted, aided, etc. thousands if not tens of thousands of government employees to violate government wide security policy and transmit sensitive government information outside of a strict need to know."
The agent added that "Musk used a non-government system (twitter) to relate information that allegedly was for official purposes."
"In doing so, because he is monetized (he is a majority owner of twitter) he likely generated income for himself based on Twitter’s monetization model and/or advertising revenues," the agent wrote.
"His use of twitter in this and other instances is conceptually similar to Hillary Clinton’s misuse of a private email server for government business," the agent continued. "Furthermore, this likely violates 18 USC 208 and the terms of his SGE agreement—an SGE cannot monetize themselves with their government work."
The agent added: "Reading Musk’s message even in the most positive light, that message threatened persons with firing if they did not participate in an act that violated policy."
"Happy to write the case opening and find a prosecutor (or at least try)," the agent wrote. "Alternatively, I am happy to report this to the OPM OIG or Congress."
The agent added: "And no, I’m not kidding."
Musk, at the time, was a special government employee leading DOGE.
The FBI told Fox News Digital in February that an investigation into Musk or involving Musk was never opened.
The FBI also told Fox News Digital that the agent who sent the email was no longer working at the bureau.
An FBI spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Patel "has made it a top priority to expose and eliminate the deep-rooted corruption that took hold over decades at the FBI, including dismantling the disgraced CR-15 unit that was used to pursue political agendas."
Patel dismantled the CR-15 squad in October 2025 after it was revealed that several Republican lawmakers' private communications and phone calls had been tracked by former Special Counsel Jack Smith. Fox News Digital first reported those revelations.
"He is restoring the Bureau’s core mission: equal justice under the law," the spokesperson said, adding that under Patel’s leadership, "there is one standard of justice for every American."
"The era of politically motivated investigations and targeting opponents is over, and it will not be tolerated on his watch," the FBI spokesperson said.
Musk could not be reached for comment.