Last week, Elon Musk took to social media to levy accusations against retired Army Lt. Col Alexander Vindman, going as far as to say he “committed treason.”
The remarks from Musk came after Vindman, a former Trump impeachment witness, accused the tech billionaire of being unwittingly used by Russia.
In response, Musk wrote on his social media site X that Vindman would “pay” for what he deemed to be treason.
“Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States,” Musk wrote, adding that Vindman “will pay the appropriate penalty.”
Vindman responded to Musk’s allegations, saying they were “false and completely unfounded accusations.”
He said he has never taken money from Ukrainian oligarchs, though he does run a nonprofit that provides aid for Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
“I served in the military for nearly 22 years, and my loyalty is to supporting the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That’s why I reported presidential corruption when I witnessed an effort to steal an election,” he wrote.
“You, Elon, appear to believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. I’m not intimidated,” he added.
Vindman worked on the National Security Council as a Ukraine expert and testified in Trump’s 2019 impeachment hearings. Musk shared his criticism after Vindman took a shot at Musk in an MSNBC interview that has circulated online.
“Clearly, Putin has a type. He likes narcissists and egomaniacs that he knows as a case officer can easily pander to manipulate, to do his dirty work,” Vindman said in the late October interview, which has since gone viral. “Russia has been using different levers — whether that’s corruption networks, in this case, its influencers like Donald Trump, like Elon Musk, to kind of sow discord.”
The remarks also come after a Wall Street Journal report from October said that Musk had been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. The report claims that Musk and Putin have had several conversations about business, personal matters, and geopolitical tensions.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in October that Putin and Musk had one call over “space as well as current and future technologies.” He insisted that regular calls between Putin and Kremlin officials were not being held with Musk.