Janet Yellen Claims She ‘Misspoke’ When She Said There Was ‘No Basis’ for Review of Musk’s Twitter Purchase

Janet Yellen speaks in Washington, DC

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claims she “misspoke” when she previously said there was “no basis” for a review of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

At a New York Times event in New York on Wednesday, Yellen said a review would absolutely be necessary if there are legitimate risks to national security, according to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reported:

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter Inc. would warrant a government review if deemed to raise national security concerns, walking back her previous comments that played down the need for scrutiny.

Yellen said if there are issues, it would be “appropriate” for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to “take a look.”

Yellen would not comment on the potential of a review of Musk’s purchase, saying she would not reveal what “specifically” the federal government could be looking at.

“I’m not going to say specifically what we are looking at. We don’t comment on what’s in progress,” she said.

In an interview earlier this month with CBS News, Yellen said there was “no basis” for an investigation into Musk’s finances.

“We really have no basis — to the best of my knowledge — to examine his finances of his company,” she said.

The comments notably followed President Joe Biden saying he would support a review of Musk and his “relationships with other countries.”

“I think that Elon Musk’s cooperations and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at. Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that,” Biden said. “I’m suggesting that it’s worth being looked at and that’s all I’ll say.”

The White House also revealed the administration is “keeping a close eye” on Twitter following Musk’s purchase.

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