Oct. 6 (UPI) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Elon Musk to compel his testimony in its investigation of his purchase of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The SEC announced Thursday that it has asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, to compel Musk to testify after he failed to appear Sept. 15 before its investigators as required by a May subpoena.
The federal agency is investigating whether Musk violated provisions of various federal securities laws during his 2022 purchase of Twitter stock and statements and filings he made in connection.
Musk, who is the richest man in the world, acquired Twitter for $44 billion in late October of last year, and has since made many controversial changes at the company, including rebranding the social media platform as X, which has seen it plummet in value.
According to the filing, Musk failed to appear for testimony last month despite agreeing to testify multiple times and only raised objection two days before he was scheduled to sit with for the investigations.
The filing states that Musk objected to appearing Sept. 15 on the grounds that he has sat twice before to give testimony, that he objected to San Francisco being the testimony location, that the SEC was using its subpoena power to “harass” him and that his biography was to be published “containing new information potentially relevant to this matter.”
The SEC has rejected his objections as “spurious,” explaining it has attempted to negotiate terms with Musk but yet he has refused to testify.
“Notwithstanding the specious nature of Musk’s untimely objections, the SEC staff attempted to negotiate in good faith with Musk to find an alternative date and location for his testimony,” the filing states.
“The SEC staff offered to conduct Musk’s testimony at the SEC’s Fort Worth, Texas, office (the closest SEC office to Musk’s current personal residence) or any other of the commission’s offices, and proposed multiple dates in October and November 2023. These good faith efforts were met with Musk’s blanket refusal to appear for testimony.”
The SEC also rejected Musk’s excuse concerning his biography Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, which was published Sept. 12, stating the book “is not a legitimate basis for Musk to avoid compliance with a lawfully issued investigative subpoena.”
The SEC said in a statement that it is continuing its fact-finding investigation and has not concluded that any person or company has violated federal securities laws.
A hearing date on the matter has been scheduled Nov. 9.
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