Musk Says Gates Funding His Attackers As Democrats Ready Post-Midterm Witch Hunt

With Democrats openly planning to investigate Elon Musk if they take the House on Tuesday, Musk on Friday named the man he says is bankrolling the people coming after him: Bill Gates.

"Gates is funding people who attack me," Musk wrote, replying to Katie Miller, the former DOGE aide who left Musk's full-time employ last year to launch a podcast. Miller had claimed the Gates Foundation is one of Kara Swisher's major podcast sponsors.

No kidding, wow. 

Gates is funding people who attack me. He still has a massive short position against Tesla.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2026

We couldn't find any record of the Gates Foundation sponsoring or funding Swisher's podcast: no grant, partnership announcement or sponsorship disclosure. Whether it has bought ad spots on the show, as Miller says, couldn't be independently confirmed.

Swisher has spent two weeks warning that Democrats are coming for Musk. On The Bulwark's "Receipts with Catherine Rampell" podcast, published Oct. 19, she said Musk "might be in jail right now" under a President Kamala Harris, and warned: "If Donald Trump loses the House and the Senate, I would worry. I'd be worried if I were him." Asked about renewed investigations, she added: "You think he's not on the list? He's at the top of that list."

On the Bulwak podcast, Kara Swisher says Elon might already be in jail under Kamala Harris, and "he knows what's coming for him."

Another one to put in the "what Democrats plan to do if they take power" file:

"If Donald Trump loses the House and the Senate, I would worry. I'd… pic.twitter.com/bCN7Eav5Np

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 21, 2026

As we reported last week, senior Democrats are weighing investigations into Musk's federal contracts, his time running DOGE and his handling of Ukraine's military communications, according to Politico. "Congress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused," said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY). Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told the outlet that "the sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding."

In the Senate, Adam Schiff (D-CA) wants Musk under oath over SpaceX slowing Starlink service in Ukraine, which Musk has since admitted. "This deserves a full investigation by the Senate," Schiff wrote on Oct. 20. "Elon Musk should be compelled to testify before Congress and under oath."

Musk answered on Oct. 21. To Swisher:

Live by the sword, die by the sword. 

Sounds like Swisher really wants to go to prison.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2026

Less than an hour later, responding to Politico's report on the planned probes, he added:

Live by the sword, die by the sword. 

Those who pick fights with me should understand that I will find out who is really pulling the strings and come for them, not just their puppets … https://t.co/L7xNa6yCm0

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2026

On Pivot, the podcast Swisher co-hosts, Scott Galloway predicted "the mother of all subpoenas" for Musk on Nov. 4, the day after the election. "They've already said it. It is on its way," Swisher said. The Washington Post reported that Musk would fight back if Democrats investigate DOGE. And when former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said Democrats should nationalize SpaceX and Starlink, Musk shot back: "Stealing companies is a serious crime. Prison for Reich."

An FBI agent proposed opening a criminal case on Musk's DOGE work as early as February 2025, as we noted last month, offering in an email Sen. Chuck Grassley released to "write the case opening and find a prosecutor."

Swisher now says Musk threatened her. In an Oct. 27 clip, she said she was "factually speaking" about what she hears from Democrats, and that Musk "threatened me with some sword or something like that." "I said when the Democrats return, guess what's going to happen? It's hell to pay, right?" That's the clip Miller quoted on Friday.

The Tesla short goes back years. Gates told Musk in 2022 texts that he hadn't closed it, downplayed it publicly, and Musk later put the position at $1.5 billion to $2 billion. Whether Gates still holds it isn't public.

Musk is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to keep Republicans in control of Congress. If it doesn't work, Democrats take the gavels, and the subpoena power, when the new Congress is sworn in Jan. 3.