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SEC files lawsuit to force Elon Musk to testify in Twitter probe

By Nithya Bose in Twitter/X News, posted October 6, 2023

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Elon Musk, seeking to enforce his testimony regarding his Twitter purchase last year.

Attorneys representing the SEC filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California.

They allege Musk failed to comply with a subpoena requiring him to testify on September 15, 2023.

The SEC is looking into potential securities fraud over acquiring Twitter shares while Musk was purchasing stock in the company.

In October, Musk finalized the purchase of Twitter, now known as X, in a deal valued at approximately $44 billion.

The SEC's attorneys claimed Musk's ongoing refusal to testify impeded the probe into potential violations of federal securities laws.

The SEC asked the court to compel Musk to appear for investigative testimony.

The SEC said it tried coordinating a suitable time and place for Musk to testify.

It includes offering to meet him at the SEC's office in Fort Worth, Texas, near Musk's current residence in the Austin area.

Multiple dates were proposed for meetings in October and November this year.

However, these attempts were met with Musk's blanket refusal to appear for testimony.

Elon Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, said: "The SEC has already taken Mr. Musk's testimony multiple times in this misguided investigation—enough is enough."

SEC lawyers argued Musk's refusal to comply with the subpoena was based on "several spurious objections."

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It included objections to the location of the testimony in San Francisco.

Notably, Musk had not previously raised objections to this location.

Musk accuses SEC of harassment

The SEC lawyers also alleged Musk believed the commission was employing the subpoena as harassment, justifying his non-compliance.

Musk also cited the recent release of his biography by journalist Walter Isaacson as a reason for not appearing for testimony.

He suggested the book might contain "new information potentially relevant to this matter."

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The SEC countered that the publication of Musk's biography didn’t constitute a legitimate basis for evading compliance with a lawfully issued investigative subpoena.

They said Musk's initial refusal had provided ample time for his counsel to review the biography for any pertinent information.

It renders this objection moot and legally insufficient.

The SEC said its staff continued its fact-finding investigation and had not concluded that any individual or entity had violated federal securities laws thus far.

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