Musk subpoenas Elizabeth Warren days after she called for Tesla investigation
Warren urged SEC to examine Musk's actions while running Twitter and Tesla.
arstechnica.com
Musk trying to block FTC probe
The subpoena was filed with US District Court for the Northern District of California as part of a case in which Musk is trying to terminate a privacy settlement that Twitter and the FTC agreed on last year before Musk bought the company. Musk is also trying to avoid an FTC deposition and wants the court to "rein in" the FTC's ongoing investigation into Twitter's privacy and data practices.
The subpoena of Warren demands "all documents relating to the SEC letter, including any drafts," and all communications relating to the letter sent or received by Warren since October 27.
Next, the subpoena asks for all communications between Warren or Warren's office with the FTC "between October 27, 2022 and the present relating to X Corp. or Elon Musk, and all documents relating to any such communications." The subpoena makes an identical request for all such communications with the SEC.
We contacted Warren's office about the subpoena today and will update this article if we get a response.
X Corp. last week claimed the FTC's investigation into Twitter is "tainted by bias" and that "the FTC's desire to depose Mr. Musk derives from the same bad faith and improper conduct that has characterized its investigation to date." The argument is similar to past claims by Tesla that the SEC "harass[ed]" Musk.
Warren’s call for SEC investigation
Musk will have some new headaches if the SEC heeds Warren's call for an investigation. Warren's letter said the "composition of Tesla's eight-person Board raises concerns about whether it is in violation" of a rule requiring that a "majority of the board of directors must be comprised of Independent Directors."
"Members of the Board with known ties to Mr. Musk or Tesla include Mr. Musk himself; Mr. Musk's brother, Kimball Musk; Ira Ehrenpreis, a 'longtime friend' of Mr. Musk who helped design his record-breaking compensation package and explored limiting the disclosure of its details to investors; James Murdoch, Mr. Musk's friend of almost 20 years who vacations with him; and J.B. Straubel, a former Tesla executive whose election to the Board in May of this year was opposed by both proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis and an investor group over concerns about Straubel's role as a 'company insider,'" Warren wrote.
Warren alleged that these "close relationships may explain the Board's persistent inability or unwillingness to address the concerns posed by Mr. Musk's actions." According to Warren, that includes the "possible misappropriation of Tesla resources by Mr. Musk's funneling of 'more than 50 of his trusted Tesla employees' to work on his Twitter takeover, including Tesla's Chief Information Officer and other senior staff."