Tesla Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Elon Musk accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of frequently interfering with ‘targets’ and conducting ‘non -stop’ investigations as punishment for Musk who loudly criticized the government.
Musk and Tesla's attorney Alex Spiro has voiced the allegations in a letter sent to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan regarding the issue of the SEC's 2018 settlement stemming from Musk's tweet about a possible Tesla purchase.
Regarding the issue of the SEC settlement in 2018, Elon Musk was accused of making false and misleading statements, and was subsequently ordered to pay a fine of $ 20 million and was also required to resign from his position as chairman of Tesla for 3 years.
In addition, Tesla was also forced to pay a $ 20 million fine separately and was required to monitor any statements Musk made about the company on Twitter or other social media sites.
Turning to the written allegations, the SEC is said to be ‘targeting’ Musk and Tesla for a ‘non -stop’ investigation following Elon Musk’s volume of criticism of the government.
He added that the SEC was also seen as trying to violate the implementation of First Amendment Rights* rather than to enforce generally applicable laws in a fair manner.
*First Amendment Rights are laws regarding the establishment of religion or prohibiting free use, which protect freedom of speech, press, assembly and the right to petition the government to rectify grievances.
So far the SEC has not issued any comment on the allegations, however, Judge Nathan ordered the regulator to respond by Feb. 24.
For the record, this comes after the SEC sent a subpoena on Feb. 7 on Musk and Tesla’s compliance with the 2018 settlement issue.
And the letter exacerbated the situation between Musk and the SEC as the regulator was scrutinizing Tesla's social media posts and treatment of its employees, including allegations of discrimination.
In the meantime, Spiro has asked Nathan to schedule a conference to find out why the SEC ‘issued a subpoena without court approval’.
