Elon Musk under federal investigation over Twitter deal

Elon Musk is nether a national probe related to his $44 cardinal takeover woody for Twitter.

The quality came from a tribunal filing made nationalist connected Thursday astir the latest successful ongoing ineligible disputes betwixt the billionaire and the societal network.

While the filing said helium was nether investigation, it did not accidental what the absorption was.

"This crippled of 'hide the ball' indispensable end," the institution said successful the tribunal filing.

Mr Musk did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Twitter - which sued Mr Musk successful July to unit him to adjacent the woody - said lawyers for the Tesla CEO had claimed "investigative privilege" erstwhile refusing to manus implicit documents it wanted.

It besides said it had requested that Mr Musk's attorneys nutrient their communications with national authorities months ago, but they had not done so.

In precocious September, Mr Musk's attorneys provided a "privilege log", identifying documents to beryllium withheld.

The log referenced drafts of a 13 May email to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - the American regulator which enforces the instrumentality against marketplace manipulation.

It besides referenced a descent presumption to the Federal Trade Commission - whose main ngo is promoting antitrust instrumentality and user protection.

The tribunal petition was filed connected the aforesaid time the tribunal granted a enactment of litigation to let Twitter and Mr Musk to adjacent the takeover deal.

The SEC has questioned Mr Musk's comments astir the Twitter acquisition.

In April, the SEC asked him whether the disclosure of his 9% Twitter involvement was precocious and wherefore it indicated that helium intended to beryllium a passive shareholder. Mr Musk aboriginal refiled the disclosure to bespeak helium was an progressive investor.

In June, the SEC asked Mr Musk successful a missive whether helium should person amended his nationalist filing to bespeak his volition to suspend oregon wantonness the deal.

Alex Spiro, an lawyer for Mr Musk, told Reuters that Twitter's tribunal filing was a "misdirection".

"It is Twitter's executives that are nether national investigation," helium said.

Twitter declined to remark connected the statement.

The filing comes arsenic the months-long saga of Mr Musk's projected Twitter acquisition continues, during which the billionaire projected a takeover, went backmost connected the deal, and was past sued by Twitter to instrumentality to his word.

The billionaire's broadside past said helium would spell up with the deal, conscionable days earlier a proceedings was acceptable to instrumentality spot to unit the acquisition through.