U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler's order, issued on
Saturday night, formalized a tentative ruling she made in December that sided
with the regulator.
The SEC sued Musk in October to compel the Tesla and SpaceX
CEO to testify as part of an investigation into his 2022 purchase of Twitter,
the social media giant that he subsequently renamed X. Musk refused to attend
an interview in September that was part of the probe, the SEC said.
The agency is examining whether Musk followed the law when
filing the required paperwork about his purchases of Twitter stock, and whether
his statements in relation to the deal were misleading.
Musk fought the SEC's bid to interview him, saying it had
already done so twice, and accused the regulator of harassment.
Beeler rejected that argument. The SEC had authority to
issue the subpoena, which sought relevant information, she said in the ruling.
If the SEC and Musk cannot agree on a date and time for the
interview, Beeler said she will hear from both sides and decide for them.
Friction between Musk and the SEC began when the regulator
sued him after he tweeted "funding secured" in 2018 in reference to a
possible plan to take Tesla private. To settle that case, Musk agreed that a
Tesla lawyer would vet his tweets about the electric vehicle maker. The SEC
sued him again in 2019 for allegedly breaching that provision.
Musk has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the
agreement, saying it violates his constitutional right to free speech. Reuters