Overview

• U.S. District Judge Denise Cote granted summary judgment to The New York Times, directing the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency to produce a two-page list of any clearances granted to Elon Musk.
• DCSA must submit any proposed, narrowly tailored redactions to the court for in camera review by Oct. 17 before the document is released.
• The court found that substantial public interest outweighs Musk’s privacy claims, pointing to his posts about having a top secret clearance, drug use, and contacts with foreign leaders.
• SpaceX and Starlink’s extensive government work and access to sensitive information, along with DCSA’s duty of continuous vetting, were central to the public-interest finding.
• The decision rejects the agency’s cited FOIA exemptions and notes Musk’s status as a special government employee leading the DOGE effort as further reducing his privacy expectation.