The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pushed back on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s allegations of harassment.
The SEC issued a letter to a federal judge following Elon Musk's accusations of the agency conducting "endless, unfounded investigations" into him and Tesla.
In the letter, a senior SEC official in San Francisco, Steven Buchholz wrote, “The commission’s enforcement staff have sought to meet and confer with counsel for Tesla and Mr. Musk to address any concerns regarding Tesla and Mr. Musk’s compliance.”
On Thursday, Elon Musk's attorney Alex Spiro wrote a letter accusing the SEC of "harassment" and that "enough is enough."
Spiro claimed that the agency was targeting Musk with an “unrelenting investigation” because the CEO is “an outspoken critic of the government.” He said the commission issued subpoenas without court approval.
Responding to Spiro’s statement, Buchholz said, “Mr. Spiro’s letter incorrectly implies that the Commission staff have issued subpoenas in this litigation. That simply is not true-- the Commission staff have not issued any subpoenas in this litigation. If Tesla and Mr. Musk have legitimate objections with the SEC’s processes outside this litigation, they should pursue those objections in the appropriate forum.”
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Tesla also accused the SEC of withholding $40 million in funds from a 2018 settlement with Tesla and Musk.
However, SEC denied the allegations, saying its engagement with Tesla and its CEO is in line with the 2018 settlement.
In September 2018, the SEC reached settlements with Musk and Tesla after suing Musk over his infamous “funding secured” tweet in which he claimed to have investor support for taking Tesla private at $420 a share.
Photo: Courtesy of Maurizio Pesce on Flickr
