NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) – The top U.S. securities regulator on Tuesday urged a federal judge not to allow Elon Musk to escape an agreement to monitor his Twitter usage, according to Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) The CEO sees it as part of a harassment campaign.
In a post filed in federal court in Manhattan, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Musk did not meet its “heavy burden” that Tesla lawyers should approve tweets and other public statements to set aside the 2018 approval order. Car company.
Musk found that “less convenient than he expected” was not enough or wanted the SEC to stop examining Tesla’s disclosure practices.
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“When it comes to civil solutions, a contract is a contract, there are no more compelling circumstances than what is provided here,” the SEC said.
Last November, the regulatory body urged U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who oversees the order, to reject Musk’s attempt to cancel Sapona’s request for records on whether it could sell 10% of its Tesla shares.
Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro declined to comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Legal experts have said Musk is unlikely to set aside the order.
Earlier on Tuesday, Musk danced and teased with fans as German Chancellor Olaf Scholes oversaw the opening of Tesla’s first European factory near Berlin. read more
There is also a Tesla factory in Shanghai. According to Forbes magazine, the company has made Musk the richest man in the world.
The SEC scandal erupted on August 7, 2018, when the regulator claimed that Musk had deceived investors by tweeting that he had “financial security” to buy his electric car company privately at a premium.
Tesla and Musk both paid $ 20 million in civil fines, and Musk resigned as Tesla’s chairman.
Musk accused the SEC of harassing him with “browsing and unlimited” investigations in an attempt to discredit him for criticizing the government under the First Amendment and for exercising its constitutional right to freedom of speech. read more
But the SEC said it had broad authority and a “legitimate purpose” to investigate Musk and Tesla, and that Musk could oppose Sappona only through enforcement action.
“Musk complains about the SEC’s ‘sheer number of claims’ from 2018 to the present, which he classifies as harassment,” the SEC said.
“But Musk’s own timeline is less than both alleged claims and reflects legitimate investigations into Tesla and Musk’s new potential breach of conduct,” it added.
Sapona related to Musk’s tweet that it will upload 10% of its Tesla shares if users approve.
The majority, and the poll led to a fall in Tesla’s share price. Musk has since sold $ 16 billion worth of Tesla shares.
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Report by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by David Shepherdson in Washington, DC, Hyun Joo Jin in San Francisco and Victoria Waltersy and Nadine Shimrosik in Groenheid, Germany; Editing by Jonathan Odyssey
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