The acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is coordinating with Elon Musk over alleged “threats” as DOGE staff has pushed into various government offices, alarming officials as they access a slew of government databases.
Staff of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), embedded within the U.S. Digital Service, have entered numerous departments, installing outside servers or otherwise connecting to various government data sets and sparking privacy concerns.
Musk has received some pushback from government employees as they’ve questioned whether staff are authorized to access the information. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also aired Democratic concerns in a letter to Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent.
But interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin tweeted his own letter to Musk, offering legal assistance.
“I recognize that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly. At this time, I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting DOGE work and the DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws,” Martin wrote.
“Let me assure you of this: we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people.”
Musk acknowledged receipt of the letter on X, and boasted of the work of his staff while leaving did not address the use of servers
“Time to confess: Media reports saying that @DOGE has some of world’s best software engineers are in fact true,” he wrote.
The exchange comes as the Office of Personnel Management was sued over efforts to create a new email distribution system, passing along information to a Musk employee now installed at the agency.
A longtime employee at the Treasury Department also resigned last week after DOGE requested access to government payment systems.
