With Democrats openly planning to investigate Elon Musk if they take the House on Tuesday, Musk on Friday named the man he says is bankrolling the people coming after him: Bill Gates.
"Gates is funding people who attack me," Musk wrote, replying to Katie Miller, the former DOGE aide who left Musk's full-time employ last year to launch a podcast. Miller had claimed the Gates Foundation is one of Kara Swisher's major podcast sponsors.
No kidding, wow.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2026
Gates is funding people who attack me. He still has a massive short position against Tesla.
We couldn't find any record of the Gates Foundation sponsoring or funding Swisher's podcast: no grant, partnership announcement or sponsorship disclosure. Whether it has bought ad spots on the show, as Miller says, couldn't be independently confirmed.
Swisher has spent two weeks warning that Democrats are coming for Musk. On The Bulwark's "Receipts with Catherine Rampell" podcast, published Oct. 19, she said Musk "might be in jail right now" under a President Kamala Harris, and warned: "If Donald Trump loses the House and the Senate, I would worry. I'd be worried if I were him." Asked about renewed investigations, she added: "You think he's not on the list? He's at the top of that list."
On the Bulwak podcast, Kara Swisher says Elon might already be in jail under Kamala Harris, and "he knows what's coming for him."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 21, 2026
Another one to put in the "what Democrats plan to do if they take power" file:
"If Donald Trump loses the House and the Senate, I would worry. I'd… pic.twitter.com/bCN7Eav5Np
As we reported last week, senior Democrats are weighing investigations into Musk's federal contracts, his time running DOGE and his handling of Ukraine's military communications, according to Politico. "Congress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused," said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY). Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told the outlet that "the sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding."
In the Senate, Adam Schiff (D-CA) wants Musk under oath over SpaceX slowing Starlink service in Ukraine, which Musk has since admitted. "This deserves a full investigation by the Senate," Schiff wrote on Oct. 20. "Elon Musk should be compelled to testify before Congress and under oath."
Musk answered on Oct. 21. To Swisher:
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2026
Sounds like Swisher really wants to go to prison.
Less than an hour later, responding to Politico's report on the planned probes, he added:
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2026
Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets … https://t.co/L7xNa6yCm0
Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway Respond to Elon Musk Warning Democrats Are Coming for Him
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 23, 2026
“I talked to congresspeople and heard they’re coming after Elon … On November 4th, you are going to see the mother of all subpoena requests for him … If you can't stand the heat Elon, get… pic.twitter.com/32F5paJNUJ
An FBI agent proposed opening a criminal case on Musk's DOGE work as early as February 2025, as we noted last month, offering in an email Sen. Chuck Grassley released to "write the case opening and find a prosecutor."
Kara Swisher responds to Elon and says she was just "factually speaking" on what she hears from Democrats about going after him:
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 27, 2026
"He threatened me with some sword or something like that."
"I said when the Democrats return, guess what's going to happen? It's hell to pay, right?… https://t.co/xt0E7Zvlzv pic.twitter.com/FPaht12YU9
The Tesla short goes back years. Gates told Musk in 2022 texts that he hadn't closed it, downplayed it publicly, and Musk later put the position at $1.5 billion to $2 billion. Whether Gates still holds it isn't public.
Musk is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Republicans in control of Congress. If it doesn't work, Democrats take the gavels, and the subpoena power, when the new Congress is sworn in Jan. 3.
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