Federal authorities in the United States are looking into Elon Musk's actions in connection with is $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc., the social media company revealed in a court document on Thursday.
While the filing stated that he was the subject of inquiries, it made no mention of the precise nature of the inquiries or the federal agencies carrying them out.
Twitter claimed that Musk's attorneys had invoked "investigative privilege" in order to withhold the documents it had requested when it sued Musk in July to pressure him into concluding the deal.
According to Twitter, Musk's lawyers gave a "privilege log" identifying the documents to be withheld in late September.
The log included references to drafts of emails sent on May 13 to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States (SEC).
"This game of 'hide the ball' must end," the company said in the court filing.
On October 6, the day after Musk changed his mind and declared he would move forward with the deal, a court filing asking Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick to order Musk's lawyers to provide the documents was submitted.
Twitter's court filing, according to Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, was a "misdirection," he claimed, and "Twitter's executives are under federal investigation."
Twitter chose not to respond to Spiro's assertion. It also declined to comment when Reuters questioned it regarding any Musk-related investigations.
There were no comments on the issue available from the SEC and the FTC.
The SEC has raised concerns about Musk's remarks regarding the purchase of Twitter, including whether or not a 9% stake he had amassed before making his bid had been disclosed timely and why it suggested he intended to be a passive shareholder. Later, Musk amended the disclosure to reflect his active investor status.
Musk should have updated his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal, the SEC questioned in a letter to Musk in June.
The FTC was investigating whether Musk failed to meet the antitrust reporting requirement relating to an investor's intentions to be a passive or active shareholder, according to a report from the tech news site The Information in April.
However, Twitter stated in June that the acquisition by Musk had passed an antitrust review waiting period by the FTC and US Justice Department. View More
Musk has been given until October 28 by McCormick to finalize the acquisition. November will be the trial date if the agreement is not finalized by then.
(Source:www.livemint.com)
While the filing stated that he was the subject of inquiries, it made no mention of the precise nature of the inquiries or the federal agencies carrying them out.
Twitter claimed that Musk's attorneys had invoked "investigative privilege" in order to withhold the documents it had requested when it sued Musk in July to pressure him into concluding the deal.
According to Twitter, Musk's lawyers gave a "privilege log" identifying the documents to be withheld in late September.
The log included references to drafts of emails sent on May 13 to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States (SEC).
"This game of 'hide the ball' must end," the company said in the court filing.
On October 6, the day after Musk changed his mind and declared he would move forward with the deal, a court filing asking Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick to order Musk's lawyers to provide the documents was submitted.
Twitter's court filing, according to Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, was a "misdirection," he claimed, and "Twitter's executives are under federal investigation."
Twitter chose not to respond to Spiro's assertion. It also declined to comment when Reuters questioned it regarding any Musk-related investigations.
There were no comments on the issue available from the SEC and the FTC.
The SEC has raised concerns about Musk's remarks regarding the purchase of Twitter, including whether or not a 9% stake he had amassed before making his bid had been disclosed timely and why it suggested he intended to be a passive shareholder. Later, Musk amended the disclosure to reflect his active investor status.
Musk should have updated his public filing to reflect his intention to suspend or abandon the deal, the SEC questioned in a letter to Musk in June.
The FTC was investigating whether Musk failed to meet the antitrust reporting requirement relating to an investor's intentions to be a passive or active shareholder, according to a report from the tech news site The Information in April.
However, Twitter stated in June that the acquisition by Musk had passed an antitrust review waiting period by the FTC and US Justice Department. View More
Musk has been given until October 28 by McCormick to finalize the acquisition. November will be the trial date if the agreement is not finalized by then.
(Source:www.livemint.com)
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