Elon Musk drops shocking detail into his influence over Trump

Elon Musk used his 'First Buddy' privileges to sit in with Donald Trump in the Oval Office as the president pardoned Ross Ulbricht Tuesday, while revealing a man known as 'Bitcoin Jesus' could be next. 

Ulbricht, 40, was arrested in 2013 because the dark website he founded facilitated the sale of illicit drugs using cryptocurrency. 

'I was honored to be in the Oval Office tonight when @POTUS signed this,' the Tesla founder wrote on X in response to the pardon. 

In early 2015 Ulbricht was sentenced to two life terms in prison plus 40 years for drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering and computer hacking, operating under the pseudonym 'Dread Pirate Roberts.' 

Trump granted an unconditional pardon to Ulbricht, the creator of the notorious dark web page Silk Road, in honor of the 'Libertarian Movement,' while slamming the 'scum' who prosecuted him.

Though the president has been clear that his pal 'will never be president,' Musk - the chair of the Department of Government Efficiency - made clear that he was in the room with Trump when he put pen to paper on the pardon.

Musk appears to be trying to use his influence on Trump while he's in the room, as Ian Miles Cheong replied to him asking for clemency for the so-called 'Bitcoin Jesus' Roger Ver.

'It’s Roger Ver’s turn. End the lawfare,' Cheong wrote to Musk.

'That’s up to the President, but I have asked whether this is possible,' Musk responded.

Ver, who allegedly raked in millions of dollars selling his stash of Bitcoin, was arrested in Spain last April for fraud charges and ducking capital gains taxes.

The Department of Justice's indictment claims California-born Ver didn't report the capital gains he made from selling tens of thousands of bitcoins in 2017, allegedly netting him $240 million and losing the US Treasury $48 million in tax money.

Ver, 45, calls himself 'Bitcoin Jesus,' and his high-flying social media pages makes clear why he bestowed himself the self-righteous nickname. 

He bolted Silicon Valley for the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis, allegedly obtaining citizenship there on February 4, 2014. Shortly after, Ver supposedly renounced his citizenship in a process called expatriation.

Expatriated individuals, even though they aren't citizens anymore, are required under U.S. law to file tax returns that report capital gains from the sale of 'world-wide assets', including sales of bitcoins, and to report the fair market value of any and all assets that are still in one's possession.

The indictment says that Ver, if expatriated, was required to pay what's called an 'exit tax' on any capital gains.

Ver and his companies allegedly owned 131,000 bitcoins - then worth $871 each - by February 4, 2014, the day he underwent expatriation, according to the indictment. 

His companies purportedly owned 73,000 bitcoins, around 55 percent of his total holdings.

Read More

California man, 45, who called himself 'Bitcoin Jesus' is arrested on fraud charges - as DOJ pushes to extradite him from Spain

Where Ver began to go wrong, according to the indictment, is when he hired a law firm and an appraiser to assist with the tax issues related to him renouncing his US citizenship.

Ver allegedly 'provided false or misleading information to the law firm and appraiser that concealed the true number of bitcoins he and his companies owned.'

The indictment claims that based on what Ver told them, the firm filed false tax returns undervaluing the two companies' bitcoin holdings, while also not reporting that Ver owned bitcoin personally.

Three years later, the indictment accuses Ver of selling tens of thousands of his companies' bitcoin holdings on crypto exchanges, making him $240 million in cash. 

'Even though Ver was not then a U.S. citizen, he was still legally required to report to the IRS and pay tax on certain distributions such as dividends from MemoryDealers and Agilestar, which were U.S. corporations,' the indictment read.

After the alleged sale, the indictment accuses Ver of concealing it from his accountant, which led to his 2017 income tax return not reporting the massive bitcoin sale.

Ver owes the IRS $48 million, according to the indictment.

If convicted on all eight charges against him, Ver could face a maximum sentence of just under 80 years in federal prison.

Read More

Trump grants full pardon for creator of notorious dark website serving life sentence

While Trump confirmed Musk will not have an office in the West Wing, much has been made about the Tesla CEO's influence on the president. 

Musk - who has been a steadfast supporter of Trump since July - has even joined high stakes meetings at Mar-a-Lago while reportedly 'renting' a $2,000-per-night cottage just outside the main residence. 

In December, Trump took a swipe at Musk after Democrats and Trump critics mockingly started to refer to his close ally as 'President Musk.'

Speaking for more than hour at the conservative Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Trump vented that even if Musk wanted to be president, he couldn't.

'No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,' Trump told the crowd. 

'And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country,' he continued. 

While he attempts to influence Trump on pardoning Ver, for now, Musk has overseen the pardon of Ulbricht with great pride.

In early 2015 he was sentenced to two life terms in prison plus 40 years for drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit money laundering and computer hacking, operating under the pseudonym 'Dread Pirate Roberts.'

Read More

Trump takes a swipe at close pal Elon Musk and reveals why billionaire will 'never' be president

'Make no mistake: Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people,' Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said upon Ulbricht's sentencing.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to commute Ulbricht's sentence 'on day one' if he were re-elected, and garnered enormous support from the convicted criminal's loved ones and fans. 

And while Ulbricht's clemency was not one of the many tasks Trump completed on Monday, the President revealed on Tuesday evening that Ulbricht had been granted a 'full and unconditional pardon.'

'I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright (sic) to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,' Trump revealed on TruthSocial. 

'The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. 

'He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!'