Elon Musk's love for women, drugs and rave parties made him an easy Russian target: Ex-FBI agent
Elon Musk's affinity towards promiscuous women and drugs made him an easy Russian target, a former FBI agent recently revealed, admitting that the Tesla CEO have been a prime target for the country since the war in Ukraine started.
Ex-Counterintelligence Special Agent Jonathan Buma further added that along with Musk, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel was another target for Russians. As per intelligence gathered, Buma said these men were later to be used as blackmail.
Speaking with German Television Broadcaster ZDF for a documentary, Buma said Elon Musk was susceptible to promiscuous women, sex and drugs. The billionaire is apparently fond of the desert rave scene Burning Man, adult entertainment and gambling, which were used by Russian agents as a 'possible entry point' to reach him.
'Musk's susceptibility to promiscuous women and drug use, particularly ketamine… were seen by Russian intelligence as an opportunity for an agent to exploit,' Buma said in the documentary.
However, Buma did not reveal the source of his information that Musk and Putin were targets of the agents.
'I'm not allowed to discuss the details of exactly how we obtained this information. But there's a vast amount of evidence to support this fact,' he said.
When asked if there really is some evidence to support his statement, Buma said, 'There is absolutely evidence for it.'
Buma, who worked as a special FBI agency for 16 years, revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the contact with Thiel and Musk. Without his involvement or approval, the agents would have no reason to get involved in the blackmail plot, he noted.
Elon Musk has had a complicated relationship with Ukraine. When the war started in 2022, he came out in support of Kyiv. However, he later threatened to revoke the access of the Starlink satellite internet service, which he had offered initially free of charge to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Musk and Putin have been in contact since at least 2022, when the conflict with Ukraine had started.
Buma did not say how he found out about the information, stressing that it would be a 'criminal offense'.
The ex-FBI agent was arrested in March and charged by federal prosecutors with one count of 'Disclosure of Confidential Information'. Buma was accused of leaking classified information to a publishing agency.
He was later released on a $100,000 bail.
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