NLRB Whistleblower Sues Musk Over Defamation and Sabotage Claims
Berulis filed a defamation suit in Washington DC, citing a cut brake line incident and a post by Musk calling his Department of Government Efficiency complaint “false”
Dan Berulis, a former IT staffer at the National Labor Relations Board, has initiated a defamation lawsuit in a Washington DC court against Elon Musk, alleging that the billionaire’s social media posts made him a target of violence. The legal action follows a series of events beginning in April 2025, when Berulis filed a Congressional whistleblower complaint alleging that the Department of Government Efficiency had compromised agency data and attempted to exfiltrate it via a Russian IP address.
Berulis claims that on April 19, 2025, Musk reshared a post by influencer Mario Nawfal, which cited an account known for misinformation, stating that filing a “deliberately false whistleblower claim is a serious crime.” The post included Berulis’ name and photograph. Berulis argues that the timing of this post, which called for his prosecution, correlated directly with a subsequent incident where his vehicle’s brake lines were cut, causing him to crash into a stop sign in Maryland on April 20, 2025.
A mechanic examining the vehicle found that the driver-side front impact sensor had been removed and the wires spliced to prevent safety alerts. Police recovered fingerprints from the car, but the investigation became inactive due to a lack of suspect information. Berulis, who was living in an address not yet updated on most public records, received a threatening note with drone photos prior to going public, further fueling his concerns about his safety and the source of his personal data.
The lawsuit highlights a discrepancy in the official narrative regarding the whistleblower complaint. While some NLRB officials and an account run by Alexander Muse have stated that the NLRB Inspector General closed its investigation into the data breach claims, a Government Accountability Office report from April 2025 noted that the Inspector General was actively investigating allegations that DOGE team members unlawfully accessed case management systems. Berulis left the NLRB on April 29, 2025, and has since relocated.
Berulis intends to donate any proceeds from the lawsuit to support other whistleblowers. He acknowledges the legal asymmetry and the risk of further retaliation, describing the suit as “kicking the hornet’s nest,” but states his goal is to expose Musk’s role in the DOGE operations and secure peace after his life was threatened and his name smeared.
