"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," Vindman said in the late October interview circulated online by X users this week.

"Russia has been using different levers " whether that's corruption networks, in this case, its influencers like Donald Trump, like Elon Musk, to kind of sow discord."

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Musk had been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. Putin and Musk reportedly had various conversations on personal matters, business and geopolitical tensions, while sometimes involving other high-ranking Russian officials, including Putin's first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kiriyenko.

Vindman said Musk's interactions with Putin are "particularly troubling" since the tech entrepreneur has access to state secrets and "Top Secret security clearance."

"It's possible that some of that is seeping through," Vindman said, adding, "He's [Putin] been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases, that's encouraging him probably to support Donald Trump."

Musk's aerospace company, SpaceX, holds contracts with the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community worth billions of dollars, while his electric vehicle company Tesla receives federal subsidies.

The tech entrepreneur has reportedly claimed he holds a U.S. security clearance as part of these federal agreements."