Tech billionaire and close Trump confidante Elon Musk promoted a hoax attacking a former White House ethics expert involved with litigation against Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative for the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The false claim began with a MAGA influencer, Mila Joy, posting on Musk's X platform.
"Buckle up, folks! We've got a sizzling scoop that'll make your head spin!" she wrote. "Tamar Eisen, daughter of Norm Eisen – the mastermind behind a slew of lawsuits targeting @DOGE's efforts at @USAID – was a key player at a shady DC nonprofit that's been swimming in MILLIONS from, you guessed it, @USAID! The National Democratic Institute (NDI) just pulled a sneaky move, scrubbing its page that proudly boasted about guzzling @USAID funds. Coincidence? We think not! Tamar was strutting her stuff as a Program Officer for NDI's Gender, Women and Democracy team for almost three years. Talk about a jaw-dropping conflict of interest! This bombshell has 'swamp creature' written all over it!"
Musk quoted the post, adding: "The Eisen crime family."
But it turned out to be false.
"Kinda insane," wrote MSNBC reporter Sam Stein. "@elonmusk has accused Norm Eisen of leading a 'crime family' because his daughter, Tamar, works for the NDI, which took millions of USAID money. Except... Eisen's rep confirms that this is a different Tamar Eisen. 'That's not Norm's daughter.'"
The effective shutdown and gutting of USAID has thrown international projects into chaos, left foreign aid workers blindsided and foreign countries scrambling, and has triggered a dramatic back-and-forth court battle to restore the funding, which some observers have warned has Trump openly defying federal judges.
