The Muskovite problem

Congressional leaders need to remind Trump’s new BFF that he has no authority

By Sam Bellamy

Donald Trump’s incessant babbling about his critics includes the word “treason.”

He said it so often during his first berserker term in the White House that then-Attorney General Bill Barr felt compelled to explain that Trump was using the word “colloquially.” In other words, the president’s habit of accusing Americans of betraying their country was totally hunky-dory because everyone knew he wasn’t referring to a legal charge of treason.

Now Elon Musk has dipped into the cesspool of X to state that whistleblower Alexander Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and that the retired Army lieutenant colonel committed treason when he provided details of a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019.

During Trump’s first impeachment, Vindman testified that Trump tried to pressure Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine in a way that appeared to tie it to future U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

In his post, Musk served as prosecutor, jury and judge, all within X’s character limit. He said Vindman “has committed treason” and will pay the “appropriate penalty.”

Colloquial? Hardly.

As many have pointed out, it’s extremely dangerous for Musk, a Trump “advisor” who’s apparently taken up permanent residence at Mar-a-Lago, to make such a claim. As Jan. 6 vividly showed us, some of Trump’s followers aren’t exactly level-headed.

Vindman has responded bluntly to Musk (see below). So has his brother Eugene, who was elected to Congress last month as a Democrat in Virginia. He hinted that a defamation lawsuit may be on the way.

Sen. Tim Kaine, another Senate Democrat, rose to Alexander Vindman’s defense on X: “Message to Elon Musk—The Vindman family embodies patriotism and public service. You know nothing about either.”

But others on Capitol Hill have said little or nothing about Trump’s new BFF free-lancing as a one-man justice system.

Americans need to tell their elected officials in the House and Senate to condemn Musk and inform him that his quasi-official role in the Trump administration doesn’t entitle him to try and convict president-elect’s critics.

Many of us feared vengeance would be Trump’s primary objective if re-elected. It’s already started.