Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, courted two scandals on Thursday, accusing a US regulator of attempting to suppress free speech while also receiving criticism for comparing Canada’s prime minister to Adolf Hitler. Attorneys for Musk, a longtime opponent of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accused the agency of conducting “endless unjustified investigations” into the Tesla CEO and his company in a letter to US District Judge Alison Nathan.
“The SEC appears to be relentlessly investigating Mr. Musk and Tesla, partly because Mr. Musk remains an outspoken critic of the government,” Spiro said. Nathan oversaw a 2018 settlement in which Musk and Tesla each agreed to pay $20 million to settle SEC charges that Musk deceived investors by making false representations on Twitter about a potential go-private deal that was subsequently canceled.
The settlement also imposed tight limitations on Musk’s use of social media, including the requirement that remarks containing sensitive financial information be pre-approved by Tesla‘s counsel.
Attorney Alex Spiro wrote to Nathan accusing the SEC of delaying the distribution of the $40 million to investors while cracking down on Musk’s usage of social media. The letter arrives 10 days after Tesla announced it had received an SEC subpoena for information on the company’s 2018 agreement compliance.
Meanwhile, Jewish organizations chastised Musk for a now-deleted tweet he sent in response to a news report about cryptocurrency transactions that financed anti-vaccine protests in Canada. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s emergency instructions, the transactions were considered illegal.
Musk’s post, which contained a portrait of Adolf Hitler, added, “Stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau.” “I had a spending plan.” The statement was slammed by the Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt, who called the comparisons to Hitler “inappropriate and disrespectful,” and said Musk should take the statement down.
According to the American Jewish Committee, Musk “must apologize immediately,” and comparing Trudeau to a “genocidal tyrant who murdered millions” is “not a suitable way to critique policies.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a strong anti-vaccine activist, apologized last month after being chastised for making Holocaust-related remarks at a rally.
