Elon Musk accuses SEC of 'harassment campaign'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of a “harassment campaign” aimed at chilling his right to free speech.

“The SEC seems to be targeting Mr. Musk and Tesla for unrelenting investigation largely because Mr. Musk remains an outspoken critic of the government,” a lawyer for Musk said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who presided over a 2018 SEC settlement with Musk.

The SEC sued Musk that year after he tweeted that he had secured funding to take the company private at $420 per share. As part of the settlement, Musk and Tesla were each ordered to pay $20 million fines, which were supposed to be distributed to shareholders.

Musk's lawyer on Thursday said the agency has instead "been weaponizing the consent decree by using it to try to muzzle and harass Mr. Musk and Tesla, while ignoring its Court-ordered duty to remit the $40 million that it continues to hold while Tesla’s shareholders continue to wait."

Representatives for the SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk is seeking a hearing on the issue.