Musk Says SEC Out to ‘Chill’ His Speech With ‘Endless’ Probe

Elon Musk and Tesla Inc. told a judge that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is targeting them with “unrelenting investigation” for criticizing the government, while failing to pay Tesla shareholders $40 million the agency collected in 2018 settlements over Musk’s tweets.

The SEC “seems to be targeting Mr. Musk and Tesla” with “endless probes” because he remains “an outspoken critic of the government,” Alex Spiro, one of their lawyers, said in a letter filed with the federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, the latest shot in a battle between Musk and the SEC over his Twitter posts about the electric carmaker.