Elon Musk asserts that the SEC and DOJ are wielding their regulatory authority for personal and political motives, resulting in punitive actions against him. Musk has fervently called for a sweeping transformation of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission shortly after the agency initiated legal proceedings against him. The SEC alleges that he failed to cooperate with their investigation into his $44-billion acquisition of Twitter (now X) last October. The SEC is probing whether Musk’s acquisition violated securities laws, and a filing submitted on October 5th in a California District Court seeks to compel Musk to comply with a previous SEC subpoena. In a subsequent post on X the same day, Musk suggested that it’s the SEC, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, that should be subjected to a thorough investigation. “What we truly need is a comprehensive overhaul of these agencies, accompanied by a body empowered to take punitive measures against individuals who have misused their regulatory authority for personal and political gain,” Musk added. “I eagerly anticipate this development,” Musk remarked in response to a post detailing the various actions the U.S. government has taken against companies under his leadership. When asked by an X user about the likelihood of such an inquiry materializing, Musk confidently stated, “I estimate the probability at 100%.” According to the SEC’s account, they served Musk with a subpoena in May 2023, summoning him to provide testimony at their San Francisco office on September 15th, an invitation Musk initially accepted, as stated in the filing. However, just two days before the scheduled appearance, Musk abruptly informed the SEC that he would not be attending and raised several objections, which the SEC deemed baseless. Despite making efforts to negotiate an alternative time and location for Musk’s testimony in “good faith,” the SEC faced Musk’s unwavering refusal. Furthermore, the SEC asserted that Musk’s objections lacked any legal foundation. X stands as one of the most widely embraced social media platforms within the cryptocurrency community, where discussions frequently revolve around the SEC’s regulatory stance on the crypto industry. In recent months, Musk has been actively pursuing the integration of cryptocurrency payments on X, having obtained a currency transmitter license from Rhode Island’s regulatory authority in late August. Musk has not been reticent about his disapproval of the SEC in the past, making his stance on the regulatory body abundantly clear during a December 2018 interview with 60 Minutes.
