Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed on Thursday that federal regulators have targeted him for an "unrelenting investigation" in attempt to suppress his constitutional right to free speech.
Musk made the accusation in a letter his attorney Alex Spiro wrote to judge Alison Nathan, the judge involved in a 2018 settlement that led to a consent decree requiring regulatory oversight of his communications with the company or shareholders.
The settlement resolved claims of Musk misleading investors without admitting wrongdoing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has been "weaponizing the consent decree by using it to try to muzzle and harass Mr. Musk and Tesla," Spiro wrote in the letter.
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"Worst of all, the SEC seems to be targeting Mr. Musk and Tesla for unrelenting investigation largely because Mr. Musk remains an outspoken critic of the government. The SEC's outsized efforts seem calculated to chill his exercise of First Amendment rights rather than to enforce generally applicable laws in an evenhanded fashion."
Under the 2018 settlement, Musk was also ordered to resign from the board for three years and pay a $20 million fine.
Spiro said "the SEC has failed to comply with its promise to pay Tesla's shareholders the $40 million it collected as part of the settlement in these cases and purports to be holding for them."
Musk and Tesla settled to "end the SEC's harassment," the attorney's letter notes.
Earlier this month, the SEC said it issued a new subpoena to Musk last November after he conducted a Twitter poll on whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla shares. The SEC at one point asked the court to hold Musk in contempt over a tweet that said Tesla would produce 500,000 cars.
In a 2019 hearing over the matter, Nathan indicated both sides should "take a deep breath, put on your reasonable pants," and secure a workable solution.
