Musk accuses SEC of harassing Tesla to chill his criticism of government

“Instead, it has been devoting its formidable resources to endless, unfounded investigations into Mr. Musk and Tesla,” Spiro wrote.

Musk’s controversial tweet said that he was considering taking Tesla private after its share price reached $420, adding, “funding secured.” The SEC sued Musk in response, although they reached a settlement soon after.

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Spiro also accused the SEC of using its power to investigate Musk and Tesla for his vocal criticism of the government. Musk has repeatedly panned the Biden administration’s proposals and has criticized the government more generally.

“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 evenhanded fashion,” the letter reads.

Musk, who is the world’s wealthiest person, has not shied away from using his public position, and Twitter platform, to express his political views. Last month he tweeted that President Joe Biden is “treating the American public like fools.”

He also recently tweeted: “If you scare people enough, they will demand removal of freedom. This is the path to tyranny.”

“Canadian truckers rule,” Musk tweeted that same day, referring to the protests against pandemic restrictions and vaccination mandates in Canada. “Freedom is being stripped away one piece at a time until it is gone.”

While Biden was trying to enact his now-dead Build Back Better tax and spending plan, Musk blasted the “trickery” of the bill, channeling pre-eminent free-market economist Milton Friedman.

“Nothing is more permanent than a ‘temporary’ government program,” the billionaire said, which is an almost exact word-for-word quote from Friedman, who is known as a major proponent of free-market capitalism and one of the leaders of the Chicago School of economics.

During a December interview with the Wall Street Journal, Musk said he is not an “extreme libertarian” but does think that the U.S. should reduce the role of the government. Musk also bucked the notion of federal subsidies, even for the electric vehicles that his company is known for.

“It does not make sense to take the job of capital allocation away from people who have demonstrated great skill at capital allocation and give it to an entity that has demonstrated very poor skill in capital allocation, which is the government,” Musk said.

“The government is simply the biggest corporation, with a monopoly on violence, and where you have no recourse,” he added, using a phrase attributed to renowned sociologist Max Weber.

Spiro’s Thursday letter concluded by urging the court to intervene on behalf of Musk and Tesla investors.

“Enough is enough. Mr. Musk and Tesla write in the hope that the Court can bring the SEC’s harassment campaign to an end, while ensuring that the SEC finally delivers, at long last, on its commitment to Tesla’s shareholders and this Court,” Spiro wrote.

Thursday’s letter to the judge comes as Tesla has issued four recalls this year for its vehicles. The recalls were for various problems, including a faulty seat belt chime and rolling stops at intersections. Earlier this month, Tesla recalled over 800,000 vehicles over an electrical problem that causes the audible seat belt chime to not always activate.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also launched an investigation into more than 400,000 Tesla vehicles over complaints about phantom braking.

While Tesla’s stock skyrocketed during the pandemic, it is down more than 13% over the past month.