Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused Democrat President Joe Biden of attempting to silence him and others who are “outspoken critics of the government.”
Musk has fired back at Biden’s administration, accusing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of harassment in a calculated effort to “chill” his right to free speech.
Musk, who has revolutionized three industries and created tens of thousands of American jobs, has frequently been snubbed by Biden.
In a new court filing, Musk’s lawyer wrote: “[T]he SEC has broken its promises,” and has been “weaponizing the consent decree by using it to try to muzzle and harass Mr. Musk and Tesla.”
“The SEC seems to be targeting Mr. Musk and Tesla for unrelenting investigation largely because Mr. Musk remains an outspoken critic of the government,” Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk and Tesla, said.
“The SEC’s outsized efforts seem calculated to chill his exercise of First Amendment rights rather than to enforce generally applicable laws in an evenhanded fashion.”
The letter comes after Tesla said the SEC issued a new subpoena to Tesla in November 2021.
The SEC charged Musk in September 2018 with making “false and misleading” statements to investors when he announced that August via Twitter he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share.
Tesla stock currently sits at $894.02.
[ahem] https://t.co/I1NfOhvlZ2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2022
Model 3 is literally the most made in America car in – well of course – America
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2022
According to CNBC:
“Musk and Tesla had to each pay $20 million fines and Musk was forced to step down as chairman for at least three years as part of the deal.
“Tesla also had to put in place a system for monitoring Musk’s statements to the public about the company, whether on Twitter, blog posts or any other medium.
“Tesla also had to pay a separate $20 million fine, and appoint two independent directors to the board. One of those can be the chairman that replaces Musk, provided that person comes from outside Tesla and its affiliates.
“Under the deal’s terms, Musk and Tesla neither admit or deny wrongdoing alleged by regulators.”
From The BBC:
Mr Musk’s Twitter musings on topics from Tesla to crypto currency have frequently appeared to move market prices.
He has used his perch to criticise the SEC, saying oversight at the agency was “broken”.
Mr Musk has also criticised US President Joe Biden for not acknowledging the contributions of SpaceX or Tesla, most recently dismissing the president as a “damp [sock emoji] puppet”.
But Professor James D Cox, who teaches corporate and securities law at Duke University, said the SEC is responding to Mr Musk’s decision to repeatedly flout a court order, not his other antics.
