The $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc. by Elon Musk is the subject of a federal inquiry, the social media firm said in a court document made public on Thursday.
A Delaware judge has been petitioned to require Musk’s attorneys to reveal their interactions with federal authorities after Twitter claimed to have asked them to do so for months.
Musk’s lawyers gave a “privilege log” detailing the papers to be excluded from discovery in late September. A PowerPoint presentation for the Federal Trade Commission and a draught email to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission were also mentioned in the log, according to Twitter.
The firm stated in the court document that “this game of ‘hide the ball’ must cease.”
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Musk’s legal counsel.
On October 6, Twitter filed a court petition at the same time as a Delaware judge suspended the legal proceedings so that Twitter and Musk could finalise their acquisition agreement.
The SEC has raised concerns about Musk’s remarks about the purchase of Twitter. The SEC questioned Musk in April about whether his 9% Twitter investment statement was late and why it suggested he planned to be a passive shareholder. Later, Musk amended the declaration to state that he was an active investor.
Musk should have updated his public filing to reflect his desire to halt or terminate the acquisition, the SEC questioned in a letter to Musk in June.
Requests for comment from the SEC and FTC did not immediately receive a response.
