Alexander Vindman hit back at Elon Musk on Wednesday after Musk accused him of “treason” and said he would “pay the appropriate penalty.”

After Vindman accused Musk of working with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Musk replied, “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 hit back, “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?”

He continued:

Let me help you out with the facts: I don’t take/have never taken money from any money from oligarchs Ukrainian or other otherwise.

I do run a nonprofit foundation. The http://HereRightMattersFoundatiom.org to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s unprovoked attack on Feb 24, 2022. 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. That report was in classified channels and when called by Congress to testify about presidential corruption I did so, as required by law.

You, Elon, appear to believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. I’m not intimidated.

Musk and Vindman have previously sparred on social media. Exactly two years prior to Wednesday’s clash, on November 27, 2022, Musk tweeted, “Vindman is both puppet & puppeteer. Question is who pulls his strings … ?” after Vindman wrote that Musk had “way too much power for one erratic individual to wield.”

Earlier this month, Vindman – whose testimony helped produce the first impeachment of President Donald Trump – announced he would be moving to BlueSky, an X/Twitter alternative founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.