Steve Bannon Says Elon Musk Should Provide ‘specific Accounting’ of Fraud Uncovered by DOGE

Steve Bannon, US President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, on Wednesday said that before Elon Musk pulls back from his work with the Department of Government Efficiency, he needs to make clear what fraud and waste in the federal government has been uncovered.

“We need to have a very specific accounting of what he found, as far as fraud goes and waste, and I mean details,” said Bannon. “None of this makes sense.”

Bannon also said he wants a letter of certification showing that no one has taken any data from the Trump administration or government, to which Semafor’s editor-in-chief Ben Smith asked, “Sounds like you don’t trust [Musk] not to take data?”

“Trust, but verify,” Bannon responded.