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Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and the “first friend” of newly elected President Donald Trump, took to his social media platform .

Musk, who has been tasked by Trump to head an outside government efficiency agency named after a meme, took issue with comments from former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman during an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday.

Vindman, who testified in 2019 that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation into then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, cited reports that Musk had secret talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022. He then expressed concern that Musk, who has federal contracts through his SpaceX, Tesla and Starlink companies, may have shared “state secrets” with Putin.

“And (Putin) used the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases, that probably encourages him to support Donald Trump,” Vindman told MSNBC. “That’s not speculation. We see how far Elon has gone. And then use Twitter as a disinformation platform.”

In response to an excerpt of Vindman’s comments, Musk tweeted: “Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty.”

Vindman in turn responded to X by tweeting: “Elon, there you go again making false and completely unfounded accusations without providing any details. That’s the kind of response you’d expect from a conspiracy theorist. Which oligarch? What betrayal? Let me help you with the facts: I don’t take money from Ukrainian oligarchs or otherwise.”

He added: “You, Elon, seem to believe you can act with impunity and are trying to silence your critics. I’m not intimidated.”

Under U.S. Code Title 18, the penalty for treason — which the Constitution defines as waging war against the United States or adhering to the enemies of the country — is death or not less than five years in prison. Anyone convicted of treason also loses their right to hold public office.

Unsurprisingly, a number of political observers and journalists expressed outrage at Musk’s comments, especially since he is so closely entwined with the new administration.

“Oh nothing, just a person deeply integrated into the power center of the new government calling for the execution of one of his critics,” The Unpoulist editor-in-chief Berny Belvedere noted of Bluesky.

“Lying about a private citizen and making a not-so-veiled threat that he will be executed,” wrote Adam Keiper, editor-in-chief of The Bulwark. “And the person doing it is the richest man in the world, a major government contractor, who is the convicted felon’s new best friends with the president-elect. Do I have that right?”

Although Musk would later clarify his threat in a follow-up tweet, claiming that Vindman has “committed treason and belongs behind bars,” he still has not explained how Vindman is a traitor to the US or what evidence he has that the retired military The officer is on the ‘payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs’. The independent has approached both Vindman and Musk for comment.

Republicans and conservative media, meanwhile, have long accused Vindman of “dual loyalty,” citing the fact that his family fled Soviet-era Ukraine when he was three years old. After Vindman first testified before the House of Representatives impeachment inquiry into Trump’s actions toward Zelensky, Fox News hosts and Republican lawmakers said he has an “affinity for Ukraine” while suggesting he simultaneously protects Ukrainian interests while he worked in the White House.

As reported by The Intercept at the time, the “smear tactic” relied heavily on anti-Semitic tropes, especially since Vindman himself is Jewish.

This is also not the first time Musk has questioned the loyalty of Vindman, who has regularly criticized both Trump and the X owner.

“Vindman is both a puppet and a puppeteer. The question is who is pulling the strings,” Musk asked in 2022 after Vindman commented on Musk’s purchase of Twitter.

“Musk’s tweet – whether intentionally or not – evoked an anti-Semitic trope that Jews are puppeteers who secretly exercise power over various institutions or that they are puppets of the Israeli government,” The Jerusalem Post observed at the time.