MUSK FILES HIS DEFENSE: Says SEC seeks to violate his First Amendment rights, and its filing 'smacks of retaliation and censorship'

Aaron Bernstein / Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk

• The SEC gave Tesla CEO Elon Musk until March 11 to argue why he did not violate a court order last month after he tweeted an inaccurate statement about the company's vehicle production.
• The SEC order had mandated that Musk seek approval for tweets material to the company.
• Musk filed his response to the court, arguing the SEC was seeking to expand on the order with its interpretation, and that its interpretation violates his First Amendment right to free speech.

As ordered, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has filed his response to the Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing against the agency's assertion that he was in contempt of court when he fired off tweets about Tesla's production numbers last month.

In the filing, Musk claims the SEC is attempting expand on the terms of its settlement with from last year by limiting his speech on Twitter and that in doing so it seeks to violate his First Amendment rights.

Musk also claims that he has been "diligently attempted to comply" with the SEC, and that the SEC's use of Musk's comments on a "60 Minutes" interview as proof of his violation reflected a "concerning and unprecedented overreach on the part of the SEC."

More to come ...

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