Elon Musk: "SEC leaked investigation info to retaliate against me"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with whom he has a hostile relationship, of leaking information about a federal investigation.

According to CNBC and other outlets on the 21st (local time), Alex Spiro, Musk's attorney, wrote in a letter sent to U.S. District Judge Allison Nathan that "it is becoming clear that my client, who exercised his rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (freedom of speech), is being retaliated against."

Spiro did not specify what investigation was underway or what information was leaked, but mentioned that an SEC official stated "specific information related to the investigation was leaked." No evidence was presented separately. Spiro added, "This leak is typically an act of malice."

This letter came just four days after Musk claimed on the 17th that the SEC was conducting an investigation to silence him because he was critical of the Joe Biden administration. At that time, Musk's side argued that the SEC was unfairly using the agreement between the two parties regarding social network service (SNS) activities, stating, "The SEC is trying to muzzle and harass Musk and Tesla."

Bloomberg reported that Spiro requested the judge to take preservation measures for records and devices by identifying a specific SEC employee.

Tesla and Musk have been under investigation by the SEC since last November after receiving a subpoena questioning whether Musk complied with the terms of the agreement related to his SNS activities. At that time, Musk conducted a poll on Twitter asking whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares, after which Tesla's stock price plummeted more than 10%. The SEC reportedly began investigating because it viewed this tweet as a violation of the 2019 agreement between Musk and the SEC.

In 2018, regarding Musk's sudden tweet about considering taking Tesla private, both parties went through legal procedures including lawsuits and agreed that Musk would have some of his public statements, such as SNS posts, pre-reviewed by the company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.