By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
Musk’s attorney did not expressly state who leaked that information. Neither did he state the details of the information, or to whom it was leaked.
The CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Elon Musk has accused the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of leaking information of a federal investigation to get back at him. Through his attorney, Musk said that the SEC is looking to retaliate after he publicly criticized the regulators. The back and forth dispute between Musk and the SEC started in 2018 with the Commission claiming that the CEO misled investors. Since then, the Commission has been keeping an eagle eye on Musk and Tesla.
The conflict started when the SEC charged Musk with making “false and misleading” statements on Twitter (NYSE: TWTR). At the time, Musk wrote a tweet, saying that he secured sufficient financing for a substantial private buyer of TSLA at $420 per share. However, the stock fluctuated throughout the month, and there was nothing to show for the funding deal the CEO mentioned. As a result, Musk and Tesla paid $20 million each in fines, and Musk had to step down as chairman for a minimum of three years. In addition, Tesla began to monitor any statement Musk issued to the public on Twitter, through a blog post, or any other medium of communication.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Accuses SEC of Leaking Info about Federal Probe
Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro wrote a letter to the US District Judge Alison Nathan concerning the ongoings with SEC. Spiro said in the letter:
“It has become clearer and clearer that the Commission is out to retaliate against my clients for exercising their First Amendment rights- most recently by criticizing the Commission on the public docket and by petitioning this Court for relief.”
However, the attorney did not expressly state who leaked that information. Neither did he state the details of the information, or to whom it was leaked. Spiro said at least a member of the SEC leaked “certain information regarding its investigation.”
Before Spiro’s latest letter, the lawyer earlier accused the SEC of harassing his client.
According to the attorney, the Commission is harassing Musk to “chill” his right to speech. The legal personnel added that the 2018 settlement was supposed to put an end to the harassment. Rather, the agency keeps monitoring Musk’s compliance. In his words, the regulator has been “weaponizing the consent decree by using it to try to muzzle and harass Mr. Musk and Tesla.”
Furthermore, the filing stated that the SEC is yet to distribute the $40 million fines Musk and Tesla paid.
Currently in the pre-market trading hours, Tesla stock is down 3.74% to $824.91. Except for gaining nearly 10% over the past year, the EV maker has declined. The company has lost 18.91% since the year started and dropped 24.63% in the last three months. Over the past month, TSLA has shed more than 9% and plummeted 0.35% in the last five days.