Musk defense “borders on the ridiculous,” SEC tells court

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The Securities and Exchange Commission heaped scorn on Elon Musk and his legal arguments in a Monday legal filing. The agency is asking New York federal Judge Alison Nathan to hold Musk in contempt for tweeting a projection of 2019 vehicle output without first getting the tweet approved by Tesla’s lawyers.

Musk has been battling the SEC since last August, when he tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. That turned out to be untrue, and it’s illegal to publish inaccurate information that has the potential to move markets. Under the terms of a September deal, Musk paid a $20 million fine and gave up his role as the chairman of Tesla’s board (Tesla paid an additional $20 million).

Musk also promised to have Tesla lawyers review future tweets that could contain information that is “material”—that is, significant enough to affect the price of Tesla’s stock.