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Elon Musk falsely accused former White House ethics czar and CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen of leading a “crime family” this week after the billionaire amplified misinformation about a woman who shares Eisen’s surname but has no relation to him. On Thursday, February 27, 2025, Musk, who serves as a de-facto cabinet member in the Trump administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), shared a post on X which erroneously claimed that Tamar Eisen, an employee at the nonprofit National Democratic Institute (NDI), was Norm Eisen’s daughter. The post Musk amplified took aim at the elder Eisen for being “the mastermind behind a slew of lawsuits” that seek to prevent DOGE from cutting funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It falsely alleged that Tamar Eisen “was strutting her stuff as a Program Officer for the NDI’s Gender, Women and Democracy team for almost three years.” Musk wrote in response: “The Eisen crime family.”  However, according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke to The Daily Beast, the two Eisens have no familial connection whatsoever. This represents yet another instance of Musk spreading unverified information to his massive audience on the platform he owns. Norm Eisen, who founded the State Democracy Defenders Fund, has played a central role in multiple lawsuits targeting the Trump administration as DOGE continues its efforts to reduce the size of the federal government. The organization works to safeguard democracy in the United States through legal advocacy opposing efforts to change election administration and procedures. “Every time Trump and Musk flood the zone, we do two cases,” Eisen told The New Republic recently. “It’s called rule of law shock and awe.” The State Democracy Defenders Fund is a nonpartisan organization led by a team of experts including Eisen, who previously served as an ambassador during the Obama administration. The group’s activities include filing amicus briefs in election-related court cases and placing op-eds in media outlets. Musk’s false accusation against Eisen comes on the heels of another case of mistaken identity involving the billionaire businessman. Building America’s Future, a political action group funded by Musk, recently ran an attack ad targeting Dane County Judge Susan M. Crawford, the liberal candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race. The ad, which was designed to support conservative candidate Brad Schimel, featured a photo of the wrong Susan Crawford. Instead of using an image of candidate Susan M. Crawford, the ad displayed a picture of Susan P. Crawford, a Harvard Law School professor. A spokesperson for Judge Crawford’s campaign condemned the ad as a “fraud from start to finish,” noting that Musk’s group was “struggling to get the facts right.” According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the image used in the ad appears to be the same photograph found on Susan P. Crawford’s Wikipedia page. The Schimel campaign was not directly responsible for the ad, though the mistake has reflected poorly on the opposition to Crawford. Building America’s Future has pledged to spend over $1.5 million on anti-Crawford ads across Wisconsin in what experts predict will be one of the most expensive court races in American history. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race will determine the ideological balance of the state’s highest court. Musk’s involvement in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race comes as his company Tesla has sued the state of Wisconsin over a law preventing car manufacturers from owning dealerships in the state. The billionaire’s support for the Trump administration, particularly through his role leading DOGE, has generated controversy as the government unit seeks to drastically reduce federal spending. Eisen’s lawsuits specifically target these efforts to gut USAID funding. Public service unions have joined with the State Democracy Defenders Fund to challenge what they describe as “unlawful, mass federal firings” resulting from DOGE’s initiatives to downsize the federal government. These dual cases of mistaken identity underscore growing concerns about the spread of misinformation by powerful figures with vast social media reach. In both instances, Musk has amplified or funded content containing false information about individuals who stand in opposition to his political allies or business interests. As of Friday, February 28, Musk had not issued any correction regarding his false claim about Norm and Tamar Eisen. The post labeling them a “crime family” remained visible on his X platform to his more than 190 million followers.