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Leaks of emails allegedly exchanged by a senior aerospace executive and a major industry lobbyist provide new insight into the derogatory comments SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made about President Joe Biden at the weekend course.
SpaceX became the federal government’s preferred aerospace contractor during the Trump years, and the aforementioned leaked emails describe a concerted effort by United Launch Alliance, a primary SpaceX competitor jointly owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to deteriorate SpaceX’s relationship with the Biden administration.
ELON MUSK TWEETS BIDEN ‘SLEEP’ AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL SPACEX LAUNCH
The emails themselves, exchanged between ULA Vice President Robbie Sabathier and Hasan Solomon, a lobbyist for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, were first published by a group of hackers at the end of August. A number of trade publications reported on the emails at the time, but they received virtually no coverage from the mainstream media.
In the first set of leaked correspondence, sent on April 23, 2021, Sabathier asked Solomon to share a number of accusations against Musk and SpaceX with White House Biden.
One email included a 16-page document titled “Elon Musk: Friend to China, Enemy of Democracy,” in which Sabathier attacked Musk’s political donations and his allegedly warm relationship with former President Donald Trump and the men of Chinese business and government officials.
“Hasan, protect your source. Telling stuff about Elon, workers’ rights, his ties to the Trump administration and his ties to China,” Sabathier wrote in the body of the email. “Your friends at WH might be interested.
The document itself included photos of Musk with President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Parliamentary Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, claiming that Musk “had controversial views on the coronavirus pandemic. “and contained a long section detailing the decidedly anti-union past.
On the same day, Sabathier also sent Salomon an editorial published after NASA awarded SpaceX its lunar contract titled “NASA’s Giant Leap Backwards Toward Moon Landing”.
“It’s very useful !!!!” Solomon wrote in response. “I will meet with the White House public engagement staff next week and bring our concerns to Elan Musk and his anti-labor company.”
Sabathier continued to send Solomon anti-Musk articles and asked him to share with his White House contacts over the following weeks, including a Wall Street Journal article titled “Elon Musk’s War on Regulators “.
He even sent Solomon an interview with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson with the Washington Post in May, which explained how ULA was part of the “Dynetics Team” that ultimately lost to SpaceX on the $ 2.9 billion manned flight contract.
Finally, Salomon informed Sabathier on May 12 that he had sent the following approval from ULA CEO Tory Bruno to remain on the National Space Council User Advisory Group to his “White House contacts,” to the Vice President’s office “and to that of Representative Kendra Horn, a Democrat from Oklahoma.
“As a proud representative of the largest defense and aerospace union in the United States, President Bob Martinez wanted me to express our strong support for ULA CEO Tory Bruno and ask him to retain position on the National Space Council User Advisory Group. Namely, Vice President Harris will now chair the Board and leadership of Representative Kendra Horn – ULA has become the nation’s most experienced space launch company with over 140 consecutive launches and a 100% mission success rate. We believe that Mr Bruno’s experience and in-depth knowledge of space policy issues is an important asset for the Council.
Once again, we respectfully ask the Biden administration to consider this very important request.
Please don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns.
Hassan Solomon
National legislative and political director
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO “
“It’s fantastic! Thank you Hasan! Really amazing,” replied Sabathier. “Now we need to get the Administrator Senator Nelson involved in solving the NASA supply problem (‘let’s just attribute everything to SX’)!” “
Neither Sabathier nor Salomon responded to inquiries on the matter at press time.
Musk, asked this weekend about the White House’s silence over SpaceX’s successful launch of four civilian astronauts into orbit, tweeted (then deleted) that the president was probably “still asleep.”
News reports said Musk’s comments “belied his frustration with the White House” despite SpaceX being awarded a near-exclusive $ 2.9 billion contract in April 2021 to support the manned space flight program from NASA to the moon.
A number of administration officials praised the SpaceX team, including Nelson.
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“Congratulations, Inspiration 4!” Nelson tweeted. “With today’s water landing, you have helped demonstrate that low earth orbit is open for business.”
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Key words: News, NASA, Lobbying, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Space, White House, Technology, Business, Unions
Original author: Christian Datoc
Original location: Anti-SpaceX lobbying campaign sheds new light on Elon Musk’s beef Biden
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