According to a report from Forbes, Lawyers representing Twitter claimed in a legal filing that Elon Musk is “presently under investigation by federal authorities for his conduct in connection with the acquisition of Twitter,” and pushed Musk to hand over his communications with federal officials, marking the latest twist in a legal whirlwind involving the world’s richest man and his embattled $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform.
After much legal arm-twisting, Musk agreed earlier this month to buy Twitter for $44 billion. That’s the price he signed his name to back in April, pending financing. In the interim, the richest man in the world has complained about the proportion of the platform’s accounts comprised by bots,
placed the deal on hold than two hours later said he was “still committed” to the purchase, claimed Twitter did not provide him with necessary information on spam, was sued by shareholders in a class action and was sued by Twitter itself after he sought to terminate the deal in July.
That last lawsuit was due to start in Delaware Chancery Court this October on an expedited timeline. The judge overseeing the case agreed to stay the trial, giving Musk until 5pm on October 28 to close the deal. Otherwise, she said she will set another trial date.
Along the way, the Securities & Exchange Commission raised questions about a Musk tweet in May where he said his acquisition of Twitter “cannot move forward” because of fake accounts on the platform. That suggested he would abandon the deal, which he later did.
There were also potential SEC issues over the timing of when Musk first reported his large accumulation of Twitter shares. Twitter’s filing asks the court’s help “in obtaining the production of Defendants’ lawyers’ communications with the government concerning Twitter and the Twitter transaction.”
“This game of ‘hide the ball’ must end,” it said. Alex Spiro, Musk’s attorney, told CNN that Twitter’s filing it was a tactic to distract from the platform’s own legal problems. The company’s former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, has accused it of ignoring security vulnerabilities.
