Lawyers for Tesla CEO Elon Musk have accused the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of or leaked information about a federal investigation in retaliation for him, CNBC reported. Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro said: “It’s become increasingly clear that the Commission is moving to retaliate against my clients for exercising their First Amendment rights – most recently by criticized the Commission and by asking the Court for relief”.
It was Musk’s latest shot in an ongoing dispute with the SEC that began in 2018 when he said he had secured funding for an individual Tesla acquisition for $420 a share. – a plural number (including SEC) is interpreted as a weed joke. The SEC fined Tesla and Musk $20 million each for it and forced Musk to step down as chairman for at least three years. Tesla must also implement a system to monitor Musk’s statements about the company on Twitter and other media.
Recently, however, Musk has been fighting against those rules. Earlier this month he accused The SEC ran a “campaign of harassment” and “strangulation” of First Amendment freedom of speech. SEC answered earlier this week, said regular registration with Tesla was required by the court overseeing the 2018 settlement. It also dismissed Musk’s other complaint, saying it was making progress on disbursing a $40 million fine to shareholders as promised.
Musk’s lawyers allege that at least one member of the SEC leaked “certain information relevant to their investigation,” but they did not say who or what information. Tesla revealed in its Q4 2021 earnings report that the SEC has subpoenaed the company, and Musk, to seek information on how it complied with the 2018 settlement.
Musk had previously breached the 2018 agreement a year later after tweeting information about Tesla vehicle production without the company’s “disclosure adviser” approval. His lawyers also accused the SEC of violating his right to free speech afterward. The last Musk and Tesla agreed for a modified settlement that requires him to get pre-approval for any tweets or other communications from an “experienced securities attorney.”
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