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Comment by sangnoir | Hacker News Reader

> He always had it? Money give influence naturally.

Not as much as he has now: he was famously frustrated by the California state government's Covid lockdown mandates, and was pretty powerless against them. That frustration is probably what led him to buy influence in the Trump campaign,and later administration. Money can take you so far, political power will take you further for imposing your will on others.

The "Shock-and-awe"/blitzkrieg strategy is another force-multiplier. By moving much faster than the bureaucracy and legal system can respond, the question on whether he has the power or authority to do the things he's doing may become moot.

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" By moving much faster than the bureaucracy and legal system can respond, the question on whether he has the power or authority to do the things he's doing may become moot."

This is a risky strategy if it is later determined that Musk broke laws with DOGE and is arrested and convicted.

The strategy has worked just fine for Trump for the past decade.

Until he's pardoned by the president.

lol. Trump has immunity, and can also pardon

Musk can be convicted AFTER Trump isn't president.

Except there’s a line of cases basically saying you can’t do something unlawful and then quickly stop in order to make the legal controversy go away.

You act as if Trump will obey a court order.

I’m not acting as if anything. I’m simply pointing out that there are also rules for mootness.

The current doctrine is those - and any other - rules don't apply to the president in his official capacity. SCOTUS declared that it's legal when the president does it.

I'm not going to be as extreme as saying "california has integrity". But California was wise to prioritize its people over a robber baron who's just mad his cars weren't selling. He probably still couldn't buy off CA to this day.

Switching to a side of fellow billionaire politicians was simply a way to be among his own people, with similar levels of empathy for the working class.

>By moving much faster than the bureaucracy and legal system can respond, the question on whether he has the power or authority to do the things he's doing may become moot.

I think long term someone is going to shut down his shenanigans for good. Maybe even Trump himself will throw him under the bus. But I do wonder how deep he can get and what his consequences are. Like, could he simply leak government data to Russia/China and only get away with a fine? He's not military, but Court Mashals have given the death sentence over much more mild causes.

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