The SEC (Security and Exchange Commision) has asked a federal judge to sanction Elon Musk if he continues to violate the court’s order to appear for a deposition in a probe of his 2022 Twitter acquisition. The SEC has been investigating whether Musk or anyone else working with him committed securities fraud in 2022 as the Tesla CEO sold shares in his automaker and shored up a stake in Twitter, ahead of his leveraged buyout of the company now known as X.
The Federal agency complained, in a filing out Friday, that Musk recently canceled a deposition at the last minute, which cost the SEC time and money. In May, the court ordered Musk to appear for a deposition by the financial regulators regarding the Twitter deal. “Musk has now failed to appear before the SEC twice: first in September 2023, in defiance of a lawful administrative subpoena, and last week, in defiance of a clear court order,” SEC attorney Robin Andrews said in the Friday filing.
“The Court must make clear that Musk’s gamesmanship and delay tactics must cease,” Andrews wrote. The filing also revealed, in a footnote, that the SEC intends to ask the court to hold Musk in “civil contempt” for canceling a deposition on Sept. 10, giving the agency only a few hours notice that he would not appear. Musk’s cancellation cost the SEC time and money after it sends personnel to Los Angeles to depose him and he didn’t appear for the investigation interview, the agency said.