Centibillionaire MAGA supporter, X owner, and co-head of the future Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk accused former National Security Council director Alexander Vindman of being “on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs” asserting that Vindman “has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty.”
Vindman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who received a Purple Heart after serving in the Iraq War in 2004, became the Director of European Affairs with the NSC in 2018.
In 2019, Vindman testified that he was on a telephone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump purportedly asked Zelenskyy to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, while the father was campaigning for president against Trump.
Vindman replied to Musk’s accusations: “Elon, here you go again making false and completely unfounded accusations without providing any specifics. That’s the kind of response one would expect from a conspiracy theorist. What oligarch? What treason?”
Vindman added: “You, Elon, appear to believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. I’m not intimidated.”
Elon, here you go again making false and completely unfounded accusations without providing any specifics. That’s the kind of response one would expect from a conspiracy theorist. What oligarch? What treason?
Let me help you out with the facts: I don’t take/have never taken… https://t.co/E2ieupoiRf
— Alexander S. Vindman 🇺🇸 (@AVindman) November 27, 2024
Russian chess grandmaster and political pundit Garry Kasparov chimed in: “America, this is your next four years, or longer. Oligarchs protected by Trump accusing former public officials of the gravest crimes without evidence or even pretense to provide any. Trial by social media, which of course is owned by said oligarch. Russia in the Wild West 90s.”
Message to Elon Musk—The Vindman family embodies patriotism and public service. You know nothing about either. https://t.co/3JSr7aivDD
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) November 29, 2024
U.S. Senator and former Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Kaine (D-VA) also defended Vindman by writing: “Message to Elon Musk—The Vindman family embodies patriotism and public service. You know nothing about either.”
Vindman said of Musk: “Comical. This guy is so thin-skinned. The adult approach is to have a serious conversation about issues like war and peace, US national security, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc.”
Comical. This guy is so thin-skinned. The adult approach is to have a serious conversation about issues like war and peace, US national security, the Russia-Ukraine war, etc. https://t.co/8n5fOcV5YG
— Alexander S. Vindman 🇺🇸 (@AVindman) November 29, 2024
Musk and Vindman have slammed each other before. Musk’s most recent sortie, in which he raises the stakes of his accusation against the former intelligence official, is a response to a video of Vindman portraying the world’s richest man as a Putin stooge.
Alexander Vindman has accused Elon Musk of divulging state secrets to Vladimir Putin, and that the real reason he supports Trump is because Putin ordered him to do so. pic.twitter.com/WAFjL3RKue
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) November 27, 2024
Many commenters on X encouraged Musk to sue Vindman for defamation — a different path than the government prosecution Musk rhetorically envisioned. Among those voices are former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who asks “Defamation suit ready?”
Defamation suit ready ?? @elonmusk v #Vindman
— Sidney Powell 🇺🇸 🗽⚖️🚜🇺🇸 Attorney & Author (@SidneyPowell1) November 27, 2024
