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WASHINGTON (CN) — The top House Democrat on the lower chamber’s oversight panel implored the White House to turn over any information it has on Elon Musk’s use of illicit substances while serving as an adviser to President Donald Trump.
The unusual request comes amid reports that Musk, who recently rounded out his time as a special government employee working closely with the president, used a laundry list of drugs while campaigning on behalf of Trump during the 2024 election season — charges the billionaire himself has denied.
In a letter to the president dated Wednesday, Massachusetts Representative Stephen Lynch raised concern about what he said were the “alarming” reports of Musk’s drug use and demanded to know whether the administration was aware whether he had continued using drugs while working as a White House adviser.
“Given his prominent role in the Trump Administration, the American people deserve to know the history and extent of Mr. Musk’s drug use and any influence illicit drugs may have had on his efforts to illegally and recklessly dismantle our government,” said Lynch, who is currently the acting Democratic ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. “If Mr. Musk is struggling with substance abuse, it is my hope that he gets the assistance and treatment he needs.”
The billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner has for months worked closely with the Trump administration, leading his Department of Government Efficiency outfit to root out what Musk and White House allies have framed as runaway government waste. The effort has drastically reshaped operations at several federal agencies, implementing a mass buyout of government employees and even shuttering some federal organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development.
But in recent days, Musk’s history of recreational drug use has snapped back into focus. The New York Times reported last week that Musk had regularly consumed several different drugs while working as a surrogate for the Trump presidential campaign in 2024. According to the Times, the billionaire traveled the country with a “daily medication box” and that he had used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms at private parties.
Reports of Musk’s drug use predate his time in Trump’s White House. The billionaire told former CNN anchor Don Lemon in an interview last year that he at one point had a prescription for ketamine, a powerful tranquilizer. He said at the time that he did not think he had ever abused the drug.
The Times reported last week that Musk had used ketamine so frequently that it had affected his bladder.
Citing the Times’ story, Lynch on Wednesday suggested that Musk could have been under the influence of drugs while running his government efficiency outfit, pairing what he said was the “drastic and erratic nature” of his decisions while advising the Trump administration with new information about the billionaire’s drug use.
“The American people deserve to know whether Mr. Musk was under the influence while he gleefully took a ‘chainsaw’ to our federal government,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
Lynch demanded that the president turn over any information that he or administration officials had about whether Musk “consumed any illicit substances” while working as a special government employee or senior adviser to the White House, or whether they were aware of such drug use before Inauguration Day.
The lawmaker also requested information that would shed light on whether the billionaire had used any of these substances while on White House grounds or in the executive office building complex, and he further asked Trump to provide Congress with documentation of Musk’s drug use on the 2024 campaign trail.
It’s not the first time that congressional Democrats have urged the Trump administration to explain reports of Musk’s drug use related to his role in the government. Lawmakers last month sent two similar information requests to the White House, the Pentagon and the FBI but never received a response.
Lynch on Wednesday again asked the administration to respond to the May inquiry.
Musk, for his part, has vehemently denied reports that he used drugs on the campaign trail. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, the billionaire slammed the New York Times for “false reporting” and posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “NOT” currently taking drugs and that the Times was “lying their ass off.”
“I tried prescription ketamine a few years ago and said so on X, so this is not even news,” Musk wrote. “It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”
After several months working alongside the Trump administration, the billionaire said last week that he would step away from his role as a presidential adviser. Shortly after leaving the White House, though, Musk publicly broke with the administration and Republicans, criticizing a GOP-led budget reconciliation package and threatening primary challenges for lawmakers who voted for it.
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