United States Democratic senators on Friday urged Attorney General Merrick Garland and Defense Department Inspector General Robert Storch to investigate billionaire Elon Musk's alleged contacts with senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, reported earlier by US media outlets.

In a letter addressed to Storch and Garland, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a senior Foreign Relations Committee member, suggested that SpaceX may have to debar its CEO Musk from its billion-dollar contracts with governmental agencies for alleged contacts with Russian officials.

"These relationships between a well-known U.S. adversary and Mr. Musk, a beneficiary of billions of dollars in U.S. government funding, pose serious questions regarding Mr. Musk’s reliability as a government contractor and a clearance holder," the lawmakers emphasized.