Elon Musk threatens democracies, French PM says
Francois Bayrou says billionaire and key Trump ally Elon Musk poses a threat to democracies, as Trump fires government lawyers who brought cases against him.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou says Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of social media network X and a close ally of US President Donald Trump, poses a threat to democracies.
“Elon Musk is creating a threat to democracies,” Bayrou said in a local TV interview on Monday.
“Money should not give the right to rule consciences.”
Bayrou’s comments about Musk come after the French PM warned last week that France, and Europe as a whole, would have to stand up to Trump and his policies, or risk being “dominated… crushed… marginalised.”
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the world’s richest person, has shown a willingness to weigh in on foreign political issues.
He has endorsed a German anti-immigration party ahead of elections slated in February, and has repeatedly commented on British politics, demanding Prime Minister Keir Starmer resign.
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Trump fires officials who worked for prosecutor Smith
US President Donald Trump’s administration has fired more than a dozen Justice Department lawyers who brought two criminal cases against him, as he moves swiftly to exert greater control over the department.
The officials were fired on Monday (US time) after Acting Attorney-General James McHenry, a Trump appointee, concluded they “could not be trusted to faithfully implement the President’s agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the President,” a Justice Department official said.
The lawyers worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led the two federal prosecutions of Trump the department dropped after his November election.
Smith resigned from the department earlier in January.
News of the firings came the same day that Ed Martin, the top federal prosecutor in Washington and a Trump appointee, opened an internal review into the use of a felony obstruction charge in prosecutions of people accused of taking part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, according to a source familiar with the matter.
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The US Supreme Court raised the legal bar for that offence in a ruling in 2024, prompting prosecutors to drop the charge in several cases.
The moves reflect a willingness by the Trump administration to follow through on threats to seek retribution against prosecutors who pursued the new President and his supporters during his four years out of office.
Trump and his allies view the Justice Department with deep suspicion after prosecutors accused the president of national security- and election-related crimes.
Monday’s moves came after the Trump administration already reassigned up to 20 senior career Justice Department officials. They included Bradley Weinsheimer, the top ethics official, and the former chief of the public corruption section, Corey Amundson.
Amundson, whose section provided advice to Smith’s prosecutors, announced his resignation on Monday.
Smith, who was appointed by former attorney-general Merrick Garland, brought cases accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents at his Florida social club and attempting to interfere with the certification of the 2020 election.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued the cases reflected a “weaponisation” of the legal system.
Smith dropped both cases after Trump’s election, citing a long-time policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Many of those who worked on Smith’s cases were long-time public corruption and national security prosecutors who remained in the department when Smith closed his investigation earlier in January.
