Recent revelations from US State Department documents indicated plans for a controversial $400 million expenditure for 'Armored Tesla' vehicles, drawing significant scrutiny over Elon Musk's association with the Biden administration. The item was later altered to 'armored electric vehicles' amid backlash, with officials clarifying that the contract is on hold. Further reporting disclosed the actual budget for 2025 is only $483,000 for electric vehicles, raising questions about the initial figure and whether it was a miscalculation or an intentional misleading edit to mask potential conflicts involving Musk.
The optics were bad, to say the least. The planned spending appeared to be one of the most glaring examples yet of Tesla CEO and unelected White House advisor Elon Musk's enormous conflict of interest.
Biden's State Department planned to spend just $483,000 in 2025 to buy electric vehicles, on top of $3 million for other equipment, including chargers. That's less than one percent of the $400 million figure.
The document also claims it was published in December, but doesn't appear in the Internet Archive, suggesting it was published later.
Considering Musk has already massively enriched himself on the dime of American taxpayers, it certainly wouldn't be a stretch to suggest it was an intentional move to hand his.
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