Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s lawyer has accused the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or leaking details about a federal probe to retaliate towards him, CNBC has reported. “It has become clearer and clearer that the Commission is out to retaliate against my clients for exercising their First Amendment rights—most recently by criticizing the Commission on the public docket and by petitioning this Court for relief,” stated Musk lawyer Alex Spiro. 

It’s the newest shot fired by Musk in his ongoing dispute with the SEC that began in 2018 when he stated that he had secured funding for a personal buyout of Tesla at $420 a share — one thing many (including the SEC) interpreted as an try at a weed joke. The SEC fined Tesla and Musk $20 million every over that and compelled Musk to step down as chairman for no less than three years. Tesla additionally needed to implement a system for monitoring Musk’s statements concerning the firm on Twitter and different media. 

Musk has been chafing towards these guidelines recently, nevertheless. Earlier this month he accused the SEC of conducting a “harassment campaign,” and “stifling” has First Amendment free speech rights. The SEC responded earlier this week, saying its frequent check-ins with Tesla have been successfully required by the court docket overseeing the 2018 settlement. It additionally rebutted Musk’s different criticism, saying that it was making progress disbursing the $40 million high-quality to shareholders because it had promised. 

Musk’s legal professionals alleged that no less than one SEC member had leaked “certain information regarding its investigation,” nevertheless it did not say who or which data. Tesla revealed in its 2021 This fall earnings report that the SEC subpoenaed the corporate and Musk, looking for data on how they’re complying with the 2018 settlement. 

Musk beforehand ran afoul of the 2018 settlement a 12 months later after tweeting details about Tesla automobile manufacturing that wasn’t authorised by the corporate’s “disclosure counsel.” His legal professionals accused the SEC of violating his free speech rights then, too. Musk and Tesla finally agreed to a revised settlement that required him to get approval prematurely for any tweets or different communication from an “experienced securities lawyer.”