The SEC accuses Elon Musk of attempting to ‘distort’ its investigation into his takeover of Twitter
The SEC officials investigating Elon Musk over his facing of the Twitter takeover appear to be growing an increasing form of impatient along with his factual antics. The 2 facets had been locked in a dispute over Musk’s refusal to testify within the investigation.Now, in a original filing, the SEC accuses Musk of attempting to “misrepresent” the regulator’s investigation. “Musk continues to distort the accurate scope of this investigation – his finest hope for establishing that the SEC is no longer attempting to seek out linked proof,” the SEC writes in a court docket anecdote.
The SEC has been investigating Musk since 2022 over his delayed disclosure of his stake in Twitter, which turn out to be then a publicly-traded firm. The regulator sued Musk final Twelve months as a way to force him to testify within the investigation. The SEC said at the time it turn out to be investigating “amongst rather just a few issues, doable violations of masses of provisions of the federal securities regulations in connection with” his have of Twitter inventory and “SEC filings pertaining to to Twitter.” A federal purchase ordered Musk to conform with the subpoena and agenda an interview final month.
That testimony has it looks aloof no longer taken quandary, with the SEC accusing Musk of using “gamesmanship” to stall the investigation. The regulator goes on to display that whereas Musk’s factual team has claimed the probe is an “unbounded investigation into an allegedly days-late SEC filing,” that “the SEC workers has continually told Musk that it is spurious.”
Musk, in accordance with the SEC, is moreover being investigated for securities fraud. “This investigation moreover examines doable securities fraud in violation of Part 10(b) of the Securities Alternate Act … linked to, amongst rather just a few issues, Musk’s public statements about his acquisition of Twitter,” the SEC says.
Significantly, the filing moreover references the no longer too prolonged within the past-launched biography of Musk written by Walter Isaacson, which comprises “newly launched proof,” in accordance with the SEC. “Three days sooner than he turn out to be to seem for the testimony he failed to wait on, his September 2023 biography turn out to be printed,” the SEC writes. “This book provides significant original files linked to the SEC’s investigation.”
It’s moreover no longer the first time Isaacson’s legend of the Twitter takeover has landed Musk in hot water. A neighborhood of faded consultants suing Musk over unpaid severance moreover referenced a passage from the book in their lawsuit.
X didn’t straight away answer to a query for commentary.
