US securities agency: Not harassing Musk

DETROIT: U.S. securities regulators responded to allegations that they are harassing Elon Musk, writing in a letter that they’re following a judge’s instructions in trying to speak with the Tesla CEO’s lawyers about his posts on Twitter.

In a letter dated Friday, Steven Buchholz of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s San Francisco Office wrote that the judge handling a securities case against Musk encouraged both sides to confer before raising issues with the court.

He also denied that the agency had issued subpoenas in the Musk Twitter case and that the SEC is taking too long to distribute a $40 million penalty from Musk and Tesla that is supposed to go to Tesla shareholders.

Early Thursday, lawyers for Musk sent a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan accusing the SEC of harassing him with investigations and subpoenas over his Twitter posts. In 2018, Musk and Tesla each agreed to pay $20 million in civil fines over Musk’s tweets about having the money to take the company private at $420 per share.

The funding was far from secured and the company remains public. The settlement specified governance changes, including Musk’s ouster as board chairman, as well as approval of Musk’s tweets. (AP)