Musk subpoenas Elizabeth Warren days after calling Tesla investigation

Enlarge / Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during a Senate committee hearing torial of banks, housing and urban affairs on Thursday, May 18, 2023. Getty Images | Bloomberg

X Corp. by Elon Musk means a subpoena against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), days after Warren urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an investigation into Musk's dual role as head of Tesla and Twitter.

Musk's subpoena requires documents and communications related to Warren's letter to the SEC, as well as Warren's communications with the SEC and the Federal Trade Commission. Musk is looking for documents dating back to October 27, 2022, the day he completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter.

Warren's July 17 letter urged the SEC to investigate Tesla "regarding the actions of its board of directors in handling the apparent conflicts of its CEO, Elon Musk." She wrote that Musk's actions while simultaneously running Twitter and Tesla "raised concerns about conflicts of interest, misappropriation of company assets, and other negative impacts on Tesla shareholders. Despite recent and repeated calls from investors to respond to these actions, the board appears to have breached its legal duty to ensure that Mr. Musk acts in the best interests of Tesla."

Although Twitter recently hired Linda Yaccarino as CEO, Warren said Musk looks likely to continue overseeing core functions of Twitter's business.

Today, Twitter's successor company, X Corp., notified a federal court that it "intends to serve a subpoena...on Senator Elizabeth Warren on July 20, 2023, or as soon as service can be effected."

Musk tries to block the FTC probe

The subpoena was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in a case in which Musk is trying to end a confidentiality agreement entered into by Twitter and the FTC last year before Musk bought the company. Musk is also trying to avoid an FTC deposition and wants the court to "stop" the FTC's ongoing investigation into Twitter's privacy and data practices.

Warren's subpoena demands "all materials relating to the SEC letter, including drafts," and all communications relating to the letter sent or received by Warren since October 27.

Next, the subpoena seeks all communications between Warren or Warren's office with the FTC "between October 27, 2022 and the present relating to X Corp. or Elon Musk, and all records relating to those communications." The subpoena makes an identical request for all such communications with the SEC.

We contacted Warren's office about the subpoena today and will update this article if we get a response.

X Corp. claimed last week that the FTC's Twitter investigation was "tainted with bias" and that "the FTC's desire to depose Mr. Musk stems from the same bad faith and improper conduct that has characterized its investigation to date." The argument is similar to Tesla's past claims that the SEC "harassed" Musk.

Warren's call for an SEC investigation

Musk will have new headaches if the SEC responds to Warren's call for an investigation. Warren's letter said "the composition of Tesla's eight-person board raises concerns about whether it is in violation" of a rule requiring that a "majority of the board be made up of independent directors."

"Board members with known ties to Mr. Musk or Tesla include Mr. Musk himself; Mr. Musk's brother, Kimball Musk; Ira Ehrenpreis, a 'longtime friend' of Mr. Musk who helped design his record-breaking compensation package and explored limiting the disclosure of his details to investigate...