The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it will seek sanctions against Elon Musk for failing to testify in its investigation into the company’s $44 billion acquisition of X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Musk, the SEC says, was scheduled to testify on Sept. 10 but was released on bail three hours earlier.
“The court should make clear that Musk’s delaying and gambling tactics must stop,” the SEC said in its filing.
The SEC also said it will file a court order to show that Musk is in civil contempt of court-ordered testimony, as well as to reimburse Musk for his travel expenses for the cancellation.
In a statement responding to the filing, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said it was a “decisive action” by the SEC that was “unacceptable” for several reasons, including the fact that Musk’s testimony had already been rescheduled for Oct. 3.
Spiro also noted that the SEC had previously agreed to allow Musk to reschedule his testimony in an emergency, as was the case with his canceled Sept. 10 testimony. Musk, who was on the East Coast the day before on SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, was unable to return to Los Angeles in time. (Musk, in addition to owning X, serves as CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla.)
The SEC found that its lawyers chaired the panel just hours before its scheduled testimony, which was not a kosher measure.
“Musk’s own excuse is based on the skill of the players,” the SEC said in its filing.
This is not the first time the SEC has tried to punish Musk. He notably agreed to resign in 2018 and pay a $20 million fine after tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 a share.
