A Republican lawmaker who worked as an FBI agent in Ukraine demands sworn testimony over a decision he warned “costs human lives.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday that if Elon Musk ordered a lapse in Starshield coverage for Ukraine, as a report says, “that is likely a violation of the law.” Fitzpatrick said Musk has authority over Starlink, the commercial satellite internet service, but not Starshield, which the congressman called “a military-grade national security tool.”
“No individual civilian should have any decision-making authority on how that’s deployed,” he said.
Collins asked whether it was clear Musk was responsible. “Well, that’s what the report says. But we got to investigate,” said Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who chairs the Ukraine caucus in Congress.
“We got to call the witnesses. Got to bring them in, put them under oath, and get to the bottom of it,” he said. “Because this is a very, very serious matter. It cannot be glossed over.”
He added that “lapsing Starshield in that manner” is something that “costs human lives,” and “there’s got to be consequences to that.”
Asked whether that could include putting Musk under oath, Fitzpatrick replied, “You got to interview everybody. Yes.”
He also threatened to hit the executive branch where it hurts, noting it “does not have a dime of their own money” and that there “needs to be financial consequences to any agency or any agency head that had any part in this.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier Tuesday that “we haven’t pulled anything back” and that Starlink “has the option to make those decisions.” Fitzpatrick wasn’t satisfied.
“These answers are wildly insufficient,” he said. “There’s a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of people saying, well, not me. Okay, if not you, then who?”
Fitzpatrick said he has spoken with several colleagues on both sides of the aisle and there is “a strong, strong resolve” to pursue oversight as soon as Congress returns.
He didn’t spare President Donald Trump either. Asked whether Trump is equivocating on Ukraine and Russia, Fitzpatrick said, “I think they all are.” When Collins raised Trump’s claim that Russia hasn’t been doing much lately, the congressman shot back, “It’s ridiculous.”
“Ukraine is our ally,” he said. “Russia is the self-identified enemy of the United States.”
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