You may recall “Ukraine expert” Alexander Vindman, Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) star witness during President-elect Donald Trump’s first House Impeachment Inquiry. That’s Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman to you. In his capacity at the time as the Director of National Security Affairs at the National Security Council, Vindman was a direct witness to the now-infamous July 25, 2019, phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was so “troubled” by the call that he reported his concerns to the NSC’s lead counsel. And we all remember what came next.
Following the Senate’s acquittal of Trump in February 2020, Vindman was fired from the NSC and escorted out of the White House.
At any rate, on Oct. 25, the Wall Street Journal reported:
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022.
The discussions, confirmed by several current and former U.S., European and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business and geopolitical tensions.
At one point, Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, said two people briefed on the request.
Musk has emerged this year as a crucial supporter of Donald Trump’s election campaign, and could find a role in a Trump administration should he win. While the U.S. and its allies have isolated Putin in recent years, Musk’s dialogue could signal re-engagement with the Russian leader, and reinforce Trump’s expressed desire to cut a deal over major fault lines such as the war in Ukraine.
At the same time, the contacts also raise potential national-security concerns among some in the current administration, given Putin’s role as one of America’s chief adversaries.
Vindman appeared on MSNBC to discuss the Journal’s report with MSNBC’s highly partisan host Nicole Wallace, during which he suggested Musk may be handing “state secrets” to Putin. Vindman’s defamatory remarks went largely unreported at the time but resurfaced on X on Wednesday.
Vindman told Wallace, “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. We are under attack. 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.” [Putin began his KGB career as a case agent.]
Vindman finds this very disturbing because “Elon Musk has access to state secrets. He has top-secret security clearance.”
He continued:
It’s possible that some of that is seeping through. 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. And then using Twitter as a disinformation platform.
Vindman added that he sees this as a national security threat and that Putin is using both Trump and Musk as useful idiots.
First, it should be noted that Musk did not endorse Trump until July 13, 2024, the date of the first assassination attempt, long after he began “regular contact” with Putin.
Second, in his capacity as one of the world’s most influential businessmen, Musk has likely been in regular contact with many world leaders since 2022.
But perhaps the most important thing to remember is that, similar to his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee five years ago, Vindman’s remarks amount to pure speculation. He provides no evidence for his bombshell statements. His analytical mind thinks in terms of possibilities rather than proven facts.
The retired lieutenant colonel gave himself away by telling Wallace that Musk is using Twitter as a “disinformation platform.” Although this remark was music to Wallace’s ears, it is simply not true. Democrats label anything they disagree with as “disinformation” or “misinformation.”
Vindman is trying to resurrect the Trump/Russia collusion scandal which was fully debunked five years ago following a lengthy special counsel investigation and now he’s adding Elon Musk to the storyline. He is playing with fire.
Upon hearing about Vindman’s remarks on Wednesday, Elon Musk fired back on X: “Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty.”
I have no earthly idea if Musk’s claims are true or not. But his response shows that he will not tolerate baseless accusations. Nor will he hesitate to fight back.
Vindman responded: “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? … ” Um, didn’t Vindman just make false and completely unfounded accusations about Musk on national television without providing any specifics or am I thinking of something else?
At any rate, this story was widely reported on Wednesday night. But oddly, most of the legacy media reports begin with Musk accusing Vindman of being on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and committing treason against the U.S. Strange, huh?
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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