In April 2025, Dan Berulis, an IT staffer at the National Labor Relations Board, filed a whistleblower disclosure alleging that “recent activity by members of the Department of Government Efficiency ('DOGE') have resulted in a significant cybersecurity breach.” He reported large spikes in data leaving the agency and login attempts from a Russian IP address within minutes of DOGE accounts being created. The NLRB denied that DOGE had been given or had requested access to its systems and said an internal investigation found no breach.
On April 19, 2025, Elon Musk, then leading DOGE as a White House adviser, reshared an influencer's post saying DOGE had been “cleared” and that people were asking the Justice Department to investigate Berulis, and added, “Filing a deliberately false whistleblower claim is a serious crime.” The next day, Berulis's car would not slow as he approached a stop sign and he hit the sign. The responding police officer wrote, “I observed a cut wire under the hood of his vehicle.” Snopes rated the cut brake line true but noted that police closed the case without identifying a suspect and that there is no evidence connecting Musk to it.
On April 17, 2026, Berulis sued Musk for defamation in federal court in Washington, alleging Musk showed “reckless disregard” for whether the accusation was true. According to the suit, Musk's readers “drew the implication” that Berulis had committed a serious crime, “as reflected in replies demanding prosecution, jail, harm, or arrest.” The complaint was first filed under seal and made public in early June. As of a September 14 filing on the docket, Berulis was still asking the court to deem service on Musk complete, and there has been no ruling on the merits.
The in-scope conduct is Musk, while running a Trump administration effort, publicly amplifying a claim that a federal whistleblower lied, an accusation now being litigated. Who cut the brake line remains unknown.
Correction (October 2, 2026): This entry said Musk posted on X that Berulis had “committed a crime.” Musk reshared another account's post and added, “Filing a deliberately false whistleblower claim is a serious crime”; the title and summary now quote his actual words. The entry also omitted the NLRB's denial that a breach occurred, which has been added.