Amongst the chaos something insidious

Elon Musk apparently has access to a lot of government and private data

What happens if it isn’t the Chinese?

If one is to believe Republican Senators as well as former FBI Director Chris Wray, TikTok is one of most dangerous spy tools in the world. The app is a tool of Chinese government manipulation and propaganda and a threat to our national security.

Just last month as the deadline for TikTok to be banned in the United States neared, chinless Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a passionate chickenhawk about China, released a lengthy statement on why the app must be shut down without an extension. Included in his lengthy and breathless diatribe was this paragraph,

“And don’t forget that TikTok harvests a vast trove of user data, including name, age, email, address, phone number, credit card number, facial features, voiceprints, keystrokes, photos, videos, and viewing habits. This data can make users susceptible to manipulation and even blackmail, not only today, but also years from now when users may have become influential persons in the military, the intelligence community, business, media and other walks of life.

We’re sometimes assured that TikTok has taken security measures to prevent Chinese communists from accessing the data of American citizens—but according to whistleblower testimony and internal company materials, these protections are as airtight as a screen door.”

Do you hear that? TikTok is harvesting a vast trove of user data including name, age, email, address, phone numbers, and more that could be used in myriad ways that are dangerous to our nation!

EVERYONE PANIC!!

But, this is different, right?

Then came stunning revelations this week that a slew of alleged Trump appointees in the completely illegal and fake Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), all former Elon Musk employees, have sought and likely gained access to millions and millions of government records in the Office of Personnel Management and, shockingly, the Treasury Department databases as well on payments to hundreds of millions of Americans, contractors, and programs.

Reports are that they have installed hard drives attached to these databases and built a massive government wide email list so they can directly contact all federal employees at once. Email systems are already seeing a deluge of phishing and ads not seen before.

All of this was done without explanation, oversight, or resistance by people with absolutely no security clearances or background checks of any kind. These faceless people with absolutely no experience in government or understanding of federal regulations have moved sofa beds into OPM and are allegedly working around the clock to identify federal employees to target by name.

They have literally locked senior government officials out of those very same databases without explanation. At least one senior Treasury official resigned over the pressure from these renegades, to get into the financial records of every single American getting paid by the U.S. government.

Musk has reportedly been told not to seek a Top Secret clearance from the government out of concern with his drug use and foreign connections.

Where is the outrage now? I searched and can’t find a single peep from Tom Cotton at all. We literally have a man and his minions from his private companies running roughshod through our most closely held personal information.

I receive military retirement pay. That database has literally everything in it listed above that is being supposedly stolen by the Chinese government through a video app. But, actually, much much worse.

Why do they want this information? So they can manipulate it? Sell it? What is protecting it from being hacked from them? How do we know if Elon plans to use it for personal gain or to help target Trump’s enemies.

If you think getting doxxed using public records is bad, imagine getting doxxed by accessing the exact data in the U.S. personnel records system from your SSN to current address and banking information. The ability to destroy lives with the information that a bunch of random assholes from SpaceX, Twitter, and Tesla now have access to is staggering.

At least someone is curious

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member, Ron Wyden sent a voluminous letter and set of demands to the new Treasury Secretary Bessent yesterday. In it he has a series of concerns just focusing on the treasury records.

“To put it bluntly, these payment systems simply cannot fail, and any politically-motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy. I am deeply concerned that following the federal grant and loan freeze earlier this week, these officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs. I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, mission-critical systems … The federal government is in a financially precarious position, currently utilizing accounting maneuvers to continue paying its bills since it reached the debt limit at the beginning of the year. I am concerned that mismanagement of these payment systems could threaten the full faith and credit of the United States.”

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden

He goes on to highlight just how dangerous this information is in the hands of an unvetted outsider running rampant across the government.

“The press has previously reported that Musk was denied a high-level clearance to access the government’s most sensitive secrets. I am concerned that Musk’s enormous business operation in China -- a country whose intelligence agencies have stolen vast amounts of sensitive data about Americans, including U.S. government employee data by hacking U.S. government systems -- endangers U.S. cybersecurity and creates conflicts of interest that make his access to these systems a national security risk.”

This breach of data makes TikTok look like a cute little video app compared to the dismantling of the government we could potentially face. It is not hyperbole to say that if this data fell into the hands of an enemy it could literally bring down our government and in many ways our entire economy. Millions are endangered.

We need answers and we need them now. Start calling your Senators and let them know how fucking outraged you are. Start writing OpEds. Raise hell. They are coming for all of us now.