Elon Musk's time in the federal government may have been more about collecting valuable data on his competitors than finding the alleged waste, fraud, and abuse that Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency were tasked to find, according to a new report from The Washington Post.
The Post details how Musk secured the power to view records and "obtain competitors' trade secrets" in at least seven departments. Musk also viewed or secured "nonpublic details about government contracts, and sensitive regulatory actions," The Post reported.
The news was not as surprising to former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, who shredded DOGE on his MSNBC show "The Weeknight" with Symone Sanders Townsend.
"How did they think this was going to play out?" Steele said. "You give this man and his little twenty-something-year-old minions key cards and access codes to computers to go and download whatever the hell they want."
Musk's presence within the federal government raised questions about whether President Donald Trump's administration was intentionally flouting conflict-of-interest laws. Both SpaceX and Tesla rely heavily on government contracts, and Musk appeared to use the White House to bolster Tesla's image when he and Trump held a joint event featuring the cars.
Co-host Alicia Menendez reminded Sanders Townsend and Steele that the reporting does not include proof that Musk took the data, and only suggests that it could have happened.
Sanders Townsend and Steele responded that it's unlikely DOGE staffers would admit to such acts, and it would be impossible to provide proof unless The Post had access to DOGE's databases.
Nonetheless, Steele's mind was already made up.
"We took your stuff," Steele said, referring to DOGE.
You can watch the entire exchange here.