By March 17, 2025, law enforcement had arrested Johnathan Buma. He is a former FBI counterintelligence agent now under a federal misdemeanor charge for revealing protected information. His arrest has drawn condemnation and alarm given that Buma is a whistleblower. He alleges that he was trying to warn Elon Musk about an impending Russian influence campaign. Buma was released on bail the next day and, since then, has vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
Throughout his 15 years with the FBI, Buma served in a variety of roles. From 2013 to 2022, he focused on counterintelligence and counterproliferation issues. His duties included supervision of “confidential human sources” as late as December 2022. In January 2022, that was exactly what motivated him to file his first internal complaint with the FBI. He claimed that the Bureau was lacking in its efforts to combat threats from foreign intelligence operations.
In 2022, Buma became increasingly concerned about Musk’s safety. He took concrete action to try to connect with the billionaire and get him on board. He argued that each of them was deliberately re-positioned into Musk’s close-knit group to ultimately siphon influence away from him.
“Those efforts were very vigorous and they were continuous and constant,” said Buma about his efforts to get in touch with Musk.
Once Buma waded into an ongoing FBI investigation, his assertions became fraught with legal complications. This criminal investigation specifically focused on illegal lobbying and campaign violations related to Rudy Giuliani. The investigation fueled his urgency to take action. He thought the reputation of powerful gamechangers such as Musk lay in the balance.
The Buma accusations’ egregious implications was greeted with doubt and denial from certain corners. Elon Musk himself couldn’t resist replying with this sardonic take on the whole fiasco.
Welp, the Swamp’s ‘Trump is Hitler’ failed. Might as well try ‘Elon is a Russian agent’ out for size,” Musk tweeted.
Buma’s arrest coincided with his planned meetings in California with publisher Arabella Pike in forums to discuss his experiences and insights. That meeting was actually canceled in the wake of his arrest. This has led to a slew of questions regarding the status of his future whistleblower activities and his current political ambitions.
Buma is still awaiting trial on bail and currently resides in Arizona. He has filed campaign paperwork to run as a Democratic primary challenger for an open congressional House seat. His new candidacy may deepen his nascent legal predicament further. Only now is he scrambling to mitigate the damage done by his arrest and the charges filed against him.