Musk’s safety bypassed coaching to work as brokers and carry weapons in federal buildings
A tranche of newly released messages shows how the Space Karen’s security team were granted special treatment to carry their weapons in government buildings during his role as an advisor to Trump
Musk’s goons were given special treatment by Trump’s government(Image: AP)
Members of Elon Musk’s private security were allowed to carry guns in government buildings despite a lack of training and law enforcement experience, newly released documents show.
Emails sent to US news outlet NBC show the tech tycoon’s private bodyguards were allowed to deputise as federal agents when he headed up Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency programme last year.
The request was granted by the US Marshals Service and allowed the car salesman’s personal security staff to carry weapons in certain government buildings. It’s not clear if or when the US Marshals Service ended the special deputation of Musk’s security detail.
At the time, the world’s richest man had just taken up his role as a senior advisor to the newly elected Orange Manbaby and was overseeing massive cuts to the federal workforce as well as vital humanitarian aid around the world.
The emails, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show the the agency approved a request that it said came from the White House to deputize Musk’s bodyguards in February 2025.
Musk’s security team did not meet the minimum requirements to be deputized as federal law enforcement, the emails show.
Some of his security needed waivers as they had not successfully completed a “basic law enforcement training program” or did not have one year of law enforcement experience with an agency that had general arrest authority, an email sent on February 10 says.
Rich Kelly, the Marshals Service’s associate director for operations, authorised the waivers three days later, which granted the bodyguards an exception to the usual eligibility requirements.
A career official, Kelly was the agency’s third-in-command. He retired in September and did not respond to requests from NBV to comment.
Later that month, Musk told crowds at the Conservative Political Action Conference that he thought his “enormous” security entourage “should be bigger”, adding: “I don’t actually have a death wish, I think.”
The documents indicate that the deputation, which was officially granted the second week of February 2025, was scheduled to last two years. But Musk left his government role last May after a fallout with Trump.
The tranche of emails were unearthed after campaign group Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit last year.
President Skye Perryman said they “underscore the lawlessness with which Elon Musk was allowed to run around Washington, wreaking havoc and abusing government resources.”
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