Tesla CEO Elon Musk has had enough of the Securities and Exchange Commission attempting to make sure he isn’t committing fraud!
He accuses the SEC of harassment in an effort to “chill” his right to free speech in its oversight of his communications with shareholders. It all stems from a 2018 agreement that settled civil securities charges against him, according to Reuters.
Musk said the Commission is unfairly targeting him with an “unrelenting” investigation in an effort to punish the executive for being an outspoken critic of the government – especially on Twitter.
These accusations come from a letter sent by Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk and Tesla. It was sent to the same Manhattan judge who presided over the 2018 SEC settlement. The beginning of that settlement, of course, was put in motion after Musk tweeted he had secured funding to take Tesla private.
This letter to the judge comes just 10 days after Tesla disclosed it received another subpoena from the SEC about its compliance with the settlement that requires Musk to get advance approval for some of his tweets.
In the letter Musk’s lawyer sent to the Manhattan judge, it also accuses the SEC of ignoring its commitment to distribute to shareholders the $US40 ($56) million in fines that Tesla and Musk agreed to pay in that 2018 settlement.
Musk and Tesla thought settling the charges would end the agency’s “harassment” of the CEO and allow the court – not the SEC – to monitor his compliance.
“But the SEC has broken its promises,” Spiro wrote in the filing. He added that the agency has been “weaponizing the consent decree by using it to try to muzzle and harass Mr. Musk and Tesla.”
This is just the latest chapter in Musk’s various spats with government agencies. A few days ago he called the NHTSA “fun police” for making Tesla disable fart noises on their cars while they’re moving.