Scandal with Tesla: Demands for Answers to Rubio on Tesla’s $400 Million Contract Shielded
What is the contract about?
Politicians are pressuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio to answer questions about a government contract for armored Teslas. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-NY) and Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY) sent letters to Rubio last week with a detailed list of questions they want him to answer.
The letters refer to a contract from the Biden-era Department of State for armored Teslas that, if finalized, would have enriched Elon Musk’s company with $400 million. “The decision to consider the purchase of Tesla vehicles for this purpose highlights the obvious conflicts of interest inherent in Mr. Musk’s dual roles as CEO of Tesla, Inc. and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency,” the Blumenthal letter said.
Blumenthal is a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and chairman of its Investigations Subcommittee. His letter, dated March 3, demands answers from Rubio today.
Doubts and more doubts…
Someone in the State Department also reviewed the original acquisition document and changed the word “Tesla” to “electric vehicle.” In the world of journalism, this is called a “stealth edit” and usually makes you look guilty.
The saga of the armored Teslas continued to grow. In late February, NPR reported having documents that contradicted the State Department’s denials. NPR did not directly quote them. According to their report, the Biden State Department planned to spend around $483,000 in 2025 on the purchase of “light-duty electric vehicles.” $483,000 is not $400 million. It is a significantly smaller amount. NPR also did not claim that the electric vehicles mentioned in the documents were Teslas.
However, Blumenthal’s letter to Rubio assumes that the State Department is buying Teslas and will strongly advocate for Cybertrucks. “This concern was heightened by the fact that the vehicle in question was a Tesla Cybertruck, a failed car experiment that has been subject to numerous recalls since its announcement and that, reasonably, would not be considered for this purpose without strong pressure in favor,” Blumenthal wrote.
Conflicting opinions
The NPR article featured several experts with conflicting opinions on the viability of armored Cybertrucks as State Department vehicles. Some say it is the perfect vehicle, others say it would be terrible. But as far as I can see, there is no current or past contract for the purchase of Cybertrucks. NPR also does not claim that the State Department plans to spend money on Cybertrucks, only that they could.
I spent the morning reviewing the public government contract database. In recent years, the State Department has been buying electric vehicles. Some of them are Teslas. The total cost of Teslas classified as “light-duty” by the State Department in 2024 is . Most individual contracts are for and will be .
Blumenthal’s letter spends a lot of time criticizing the use of Cybertrucks by the State Department, something that was probably never planned. Meeks, however, focuses more on what I consider the real scandal: the stealth edit of the acquisition forecast document.
“Screenshots published by NPR in their report on February 24 showed that, in the two weeks since first reported the news about the acquisition of armored Tesla vehicles, the Department had stealthily edited the acquisition forecast documents to remove any specific mention of Tesla, but did not immediately remove the project itself,” Meeks said. “This suggests that the Department may have intended to proceed with the project but hide any implication of Mr. Musk or Tesla.”
At the time, the State Department told me that writing “Tesla” in that space was a clerical error. They insisted it should have been a generic entry saying “electric vehicle manufacturer.” On one hand, changing it makes them look guilty. On the other hand, the real and evident corruption perpetrated by Musk and other Trump associates is plain to see. They barely try to hide it.
Government Buying Teslas: A Technological Analysis
If the Department of State ends up buying Teslas, Musk will post about how incredible it will be for the government to drive their cars. Trump will announce the deal with fanfare and praise. He will say he got a very good offer from Elon on electric vehicles. It won’t be a secret. It will be right in front of our faces.
This article has been translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. You can find the original version here.
