This week, Elon Musk's unprecedented intervention in America's budget process exposed what our investigations have warned about: the emergence of an unelected power center with direct ties to the Kremlin.
For months, we've documented how Vladimir Putin's influence operation successfully installed what amounts to a shadow presidency in the United States. The evidence is now impossible to ignore:
We revealed direct communications between Musk and Putin beginning in 2021, intensifying during the Twitter purchase in 2022
We exposed Musk's connections to Sergiy Kiriyenko, Putin's propaganda chief
We documented how Russian oligarch-linked venture funding helped enable the Twitter acquisition
We tracked Musk's political evolution in perfect alignment with these Kremlin contacts
We proved Musk amplified content from Russia's Social Design Agency
Shadow President
But this week's power play over the federal budget demonstrates something even more concerning: Musk now wields unprecedented control over executive policy, legislative priorities, and information flow through X/Twitter - all while maintaining his position at SpaceX and other strategic companies.
Center for European Policy Analysis Senior Fellow Olga Lautman explains why this matters: "Who is our president? Trump occasionally puts out messages on social media, but it seems Musk is driving the car."
What Happened in Romania?
Our reporting has consistently broken new ground on these threats to democracy. We're moving to a new model to ensure this vital investigative work continues. While key segments will remain free, full episodes and in-depth investigations will be available to subscribers through narativ.org.
The battle for American democracy demands more resources and protection than ever. With platforms increasingly hostile to independent journalism, we need your support to expose these critical stories.
Join us in defending democracy through fearless investigative journalism.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Narativ with Zev Shalev to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.