Musk Accuses SEC of 'Unrelenting Harassment' in Letter to Judge

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and its CEO, Elon Musk accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of harassing them with an "endless" and "unrelenting" investigation. The accusation came in a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, accusing the SEC of attempting to punish Musk for being an outspoken critic of the government.

Judge Nathan in Manhattan presided over a 2018 SEC settlement stemming from Musk's tweet about a potential buyout of Tesla. Tesla and Musk settled by agreeing to each pay $20 million in civil fines, and to let Tesla lawyers vet some of Musk's communications in advance, including tweets that could affect Tesla's stock price. Musk also gave up Tesla's chairmanship.

The letter follows Tesla's disclosure on Feb. 7 that it had received a subpoena from the SEC about its compliance with the 2018 settlement.

"Mr. Musk and Tesla respectfully seek a course correction," wrote Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk and Tesla. "Enough is enough."

The letter accuses the SEC of ignoring commitments and instead “devoting its formidable resources to endless, unfounded investigations" into Elon Musk.

"Worst of all, the SEC seems to be targeting Mr. Musk and Tesla for unrelenting investigation largely because Mr. Musk remains an outspoken critic of the government; the SEC's outsized efforts seem calculated to chill his exercise of First Amendment rights," Spiro wrote.

It was also announced Thursday that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into 416,000 Tesla vehicles over reports of unexpected brake activation.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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