Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his proposed $44 billion takeover of Twitter, the social media company said in a court filing released on Thursday.
The filing did not reveal what the exact focus of the
investigations was and which federal authorities were conducting them.
Twitter, which sued Mr Musk in July to force him to close
the deal, said lawyers for the Tesla chief executive had claimed “investigative
privilege” when they refused to hand over documents it had sought.
In late September, Mr Musk's lawyers provided a “privilege
log” identifying documents to be withheld, Twitter said. The log referenced
drafts of a May 13 email to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a
slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission.
“This game of 'hide the ball' must end,” the microblogging
platform said in the court filing.
The court filing, which asked Delaware judge Kathaleen
McCormick to order Mr Musk's lawyers to provide the documents, was made on
October 6 — the same day that Ms McCormick paused litigation between the two sides
after Mr Musk reversed course and said he would proceed with the deal.
Alex Spiro, one of Mr Musk's lawyers, told Reuters that
Twitter's court filing was a “misdirection”.
“It is Twitter's executives that are under federal
investigation,” he said.
Twitter declined to comment on Mr Spiro's statement. It also
declined to comment when Reuters asked about its understanding of any
investigation into Mr Musk.
The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment
and the FTC declined to comment.
The SEC has questioned Mr Musk's comments about his proposed
acquisition of Twitter, including whether a 9 per cent stake he had built up
before announcing his bid had been disclosed late and why it indicated that he
intended to be a passive shareholder.
Mr Musk later refiled the disclosure to indicate he was an
active investor.
In June, the SEC asked Mr Musk in a letter whether he should
have amended his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon
the deal.
The Information, a technology news site, reported in April
that the FTC was scrutinising whether Mr Musk failed to comply with the
antitrust reporting requirement relating to an investor's intentions of being a
passive or active shareholder.
However, Twitter said in June that the takeover deal with Mr
Musk had cleared an antitrust waiting period for review by the FTC and US
Justice Department.
Ms McCormick gave Mr Musk until October 28 to close the
acquisition. If the deal is not closed by then, a trial date will be set for
November.
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