Terry.
This is FRESH air.
I'm Terry Gross.
A new investigation into conflicts of interest posed by Elon Musk,
overseeing the drastic cost cutting and dismantling of some federal agencies,
was published yesterday afternoon in the New York Times Online.
A few hours later,
Musk and President Trump held a joint press conference
during which they insisted Musk was operating with full transparency.
Trump said he wouldn't allow Musk to look into areas that posed a conflict of interest.
Musk controls six private companies, including SpaceX, Tesla and X, formerly Twitter.
He gets billions of dollars from the federal government.
My guest, Eric Lipton, along with Times reporter Kirsten Grind,
spent the past year investigating Musk's business with the federal government.
They learned that at least 11 federal agencies have more than 32 continuing investigations,
pending complaints or enforcement actions into Musk's companies.
Yesterday, before the Trump Musk press conference,
I spoke to Lipton about what the investigation uncovered.
Eric Lipton, welcome to FRESH air.
You're a reporter looking into these conflicts of interest.