Elon Musk, alongside Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (L) and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (C), speaks during a press event with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2025.
Allison Robbert | AFP | Getty Images
A federal magistrate judge in Virginia ruled that Elon Musk engaged in "state sanctioned intimidation" of ex-FEMA CFO Mary Comans when he posted falsehoods on X last year accusing her of "criminal action" and of "funneling $58 million to illegal migrant hotels in Manhattan."
Musk, the world's richest person, was working for the Trump administration as the head of DOGE when he shared those posts on Feb. 11, 2025. The Department of Homeland Security said the next day it was firing Comans and three colleagues, and labeled them "deep state activists."
In Tuesday's order, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick cleared Comans' name.
Comans served as FEMA CFO from around January 2018 until February 2025, and was also FEMA's operating chief from 2020 to 2021.
Fitzpatrick wrote in the order that, "The facts establish that high-ranking government officials," including Musk, then a special government employee, had "engaged in a coordinated public relations campaign to impugn the personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans."
"Mr. Musk was the head of DOGE, he knew or should have known that any payments made to state or local governments through a FEMA grant in February 2025 were approved by his subordinates," the judge wrote.
He added that Musk posted a picture of Ms. Comans "to his millions of followers while falsely characterizing her government service as a 'criminal action,'" an act Fitzpatrick described as "little more than state sanctioned intimidation."
CNBC has reached out to Musk and White House attorneys involved in the case for comment.
Democracy Defenders Fund, which was involved in Comans' case, said in a statement that it was pleased with the decision.
"Mary Comans served in the federal government for 21 years," said Craig Becker, the group's head of affirmative litigation. "Career public servants are people, not pawns, and no one who has devoted their life to serving the American public should have their good name destroyed for partisan, political gain."
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