Elon Musk

Elon Musk suggested Wednesday that a number of federal employees who did not respond to an email requesting a summary of their achievements from the previous week could be "dead" or "not real people," but offered no facts to back it up.  "We think there are a number of people on the government payroll who are dead, which is probably why they can't respond, and — and some people who are not real people," Musk said.

President Trump echoed Musk's claims moments later to reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting.  "Maybe we're paying people that don't exist," he said. 

There is no evidence that the federal payroll includes scores of dead or non-existent people. The White House declined to provide evidence for the claim to CBS News. 

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