Elon Musk said retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman “has committed treason against the United States” by being “on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs,” and will “pay the appropriate penalty.” Musk’s comments came in response to Vindman accusing him of conspiring with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty,” Musk said in a Wednesday X post.
Musk was reacting to a post by another X account that shared a video of Vindman accusing the Tesla CEO of having ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and claiming Musk only supported President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 election because Putin told him to.
“We are under attack,” Vindman said in the video. “Russia has been using different levers, whether that’s corruption networks — in this case, it’s influencers like Donald Trump, like Elon Musk, to really, kind of, sow discord.”
“It’s particularly troubling with Elon Musk in this case, because Elon Musk has access to State secrets. He has top secret security clearance. It’s possible that some of that is seeping through,” Vindman continued.
The former Director for European Affairs went on to claim, “Putin has been very effective in playing both Trump and Elon, and he’s been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding.”
“In some cases that’s encouraging him probably to support Donald Trump. That’s not speculation. We see how far in Elon has gone,” Vindman asserted.
Vindman also accused Musk of using X “as a disinformation platform, adding, “This is not some sort of far off distant threat. This is going to impact our elections, it’s a national security threat.”
This is not the first time Vindman has publicly attacked Musk.
In August, Vindman issued a warning to Musk following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, saying he “should be nervous” about being next.
“While Durov holds French citizenship, is arrested for violating French law, this has broader implications for other social media, including Twitter,” Vindman wrote at the time.
“There’s a growing intolerance for platforming disinfo & malign influence & a growing appetite for accountability,” he added. “Musk should be nervous.”
Notably, Vindman testified against then-President Trump during the November 2019 House impeachment hearings, claiming the 45th president was withholding military aid to Ukraine in exchange for dirt on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
In September, Vindman’s wife, Rachel Vindman, mocked the second assassination attempt on Trump’s life.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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