| | | Elon has left DOGE, and has produced ZERO evidence of fraud in the government, despite his(and Trump's) repeated claims.
Let's take a look at the evidence. (From Reddit ...)
Condoms for Gaza
What Elon Claimed: Musk and Trump’s administration claimed $50 million was wasted on condoms sent to the Gaza Strip, implying misuse by Hamas.
Why Elon Was Wrong: The money actually funded an HIV prevention program in Gaza Province, Mozambique. No condoms were involved, and Musk publicly acknowledged the mistake.
Social Security Fraud (Dead People Receiving Benefits)
What Elon Claimed: Musk said 20 million people over age 100 fraudulently received Social Security benefits, describing it as massive fraud.
Why Elon Was Wrong: This claim was based on misunderstandings of administrative data. Only about 44,000 people actually received benefits, primarily due to clerical errors—not fraud.
Unemployment Fraud
What Elon Claimed: Musk stated DOGE uncovered thousands of fraudulent unemployment claims, including individuals supposedly born in the year 2154.
Why Elon Was Wrong: These fraudulent claims were already identified and handled by existing government audits. DOGE's "discoveries" were not new.
Contract Savings Errors
What Elon Claimed: DOGE reported billions saved by canceling government contracts, citing inflated figures for USAID, Social Security, and ICE.
Why Elon Was Wrong: Actual savings were far smaller. DOGE later corrected these exaggerated numbers following scrutiny by fact-checkers.
Unauthorized Immigrants and Entitlement Fraud
What Elon Claimed: Musk claimed unauthorized immigrants committed massive entitlement fraud, costing billions.
Why Elon Was Wrong: Unauthorized immigrants generally do not qualify for these federal benefits and actually contribute more to programs like Social Security than they receive. Fraud cases are minimal.
Misrepresented Government-wide Fraud Estimate
What Elon Claimed: DOGE used a GAO report to suggest annual fraud of $233B–$521B, mostly in entitlement programs.
Why Elon Was Wrong: The GAO report included all fraud across the government. The portion involving entitlement programs was much smaller.
Treasury’s Payment Automation Manager (PAM) Checks
What Elon Claimed: Musk claimed the Treasury issued $100 billion annually in untraceable, fraudulent checks.
Why Elon Was Wrong: The PAM system requires complete payment information, and no credible evidence supports claims of such widespread fraud.
Interior Department Survey Spending
What Elon Claimed: DOGE alleged $830 million was spent on a single 10-question survey.
Why Elon Was Wrong: The claim was a misrepresentation of the Federal Consulting Group, which had total annual survey expenses closer to $4–5 million.
General Fraud in Diversity and Climate Programs
What Elon Claimed: Musk and Trump called diversity and climate initiatives fraudulent.
Why Elon Was Wrong: These were ideological critiques, not fraud. No criminal wrongdoing was found.
Bottom Line
Musk’s DOGE did not uncover fraud.
Tenchusatsu |
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