The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit sided with the Trump administration and granted a motion to halt the questioning of billionaire Elon Musk in a case concerning the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The judges, by a majority vote, overturned a lower court's decision that compelled Musk and other former officials to testify under oath about their role in dismantling the government agency. This was reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
Details
The lawsuit against the world's richest man was initiated by former USAID employees who claim that Musk exceeded his authority as an advisor while working in the DOGE department.
The plaintiffs insist that it was Elon Musk who made key decisions to terminate contracts and block the agency's IT systems, even though he was not officially appointed to a government position and did not undergo Senate confirmation procedures.
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Appellate Judges A. Marvin Quattlebaum and Paul Niemeyer ruled that the district judge abused his authority by attempting to force Musk to testify without exhausting other means of obtaining information.
Position of the Department of Justice and protection of the advisory institution
Representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice argued for the need to protect Elon Musk, stating that forced interrogations of presidential advisors hinder the normal performance of the head of state's duties. Government lawyers called the plaintiffs' demands an attempt to conduct an unsubstantiated collection of evidence, as the administration had already provided a significant amount of documents regarding DOGE's activities. In their opinion, Musk acted solely as a consultant, and official decisions on staff reductions and program liquidation were signed by authorized civil servants.
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