Say hello to the Freedom of Information Act, Elon

Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team have been handed nearly unlimited power to rampage through the federal government, shut down agencies, and access our personal data.

To date, nearly all of DOGE’s operations have been taking place behind closed doors and away from public view.

Well, we’re about to put an end to that.

The Intercept is preparing a blizzard of Freedom of Information Act requests to access the critical documents and information that we need to find out exactly what DOGE is up to and what laws they may be breaking.

And if they refuse to cough up the documents we’re legally entitled to, then our lawyers are ready to take them to court.

But going up against the Trump administration and the richest man in the world, we need to be prepared for a potentially long and costly legal fight — and we’re counting on your financial support to ensure that we have the legal and reporting firepower to get to the truth.

Will you donate $5 to help fund our investigations of Elon Musk and DOGE?

Countless government watchdogs have warned that allowing Musk to exercise such sweeping authority with so little transparency and so many conflicts of interest creates enormous potential for corruption.

Musk-owned companies like SpaceX have received tens of billions in government contracts. Several of the agencies that have been cut by DOGE were actively pursuing investigations, lawsuits, or regulatory actions against one or more of his companies. And who knows what he may be doing with the massive government data troves that he’s reportedly accessed.

Whether through deceit or incompetence, Musk and the DOGE team have already been caught repeatedly misleading the public.

For instance, The Intercept reported that the DOGE team falsely claimed to have saved nearly $232 million by canceling an IT contract for the Social Security Administration. In fact, their claim was off by more than $231 million. The actual cut amounted to a paltry $560,000, less than 0.3% of what they claimed.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the public has a right to access documents and other information that will shed light on DOGE’s operations, and we’re committed to getting to the truth.

Exposing the truth about DOGE could be one of the most consequential and challenging investigations we’ve ever taken on, and we’re counting on your financial support to see this fight through.

Will you donate $5 to help fund our investigations of Elon Musk and DOGE?

STAND WITH THE INTERCEPT →