Judge Orders April 4th Oral Argument In Elon Musk's Contempt Of Court Motion

by Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/26/2019 - 18:08

Those following the saga of whether or not Elon Musk will be held in contempt of court have a new date to look forward to: April 4th. That's the date that U.S. federal judge Alison Nathan scheduled a hearing for oral arguments in the SEC's lawsuit against Musk. Specifically, she will hear arguments on from both sides on why Musk should - or should not - be held in contempt of court. 

After a written back and forth on the motion, where the SEC clearly had the upper hand, both parties subsequently informed the court that they were not requesting an evidentiary hearing. 

There is also speculation that the judge may want the oral argument to inquire with the parties about potential remedies for the situation, which the SEC had left at the behest of the judge. 

The SEC has been looking to hold Tesla CEO Elon Musk in contempt for breaching a court ordered settlement that Musk slithered away with as a result of his fraudulent tweet from last summer claiming he had funding secured for the buyout of Tesla at $420 per share. After the SEC alleged that a recent Tweet from February 19 was in violation of Musk's court order to have his social media posts pre-approved by a lawyer, Musk responded to the SEC action in late February by calling the agency "embarrassing".

Two weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission responded to Elon Musk's "contempt" defense, shredding Musk's arguments and making it clear that the regulatory agency will not back down in its attempt to get Musk held in contempt of court following a February tweet regarding Tesla's production guidance. 

Musk had argued against the contempt of court motion weeks ago, with his well-paid lawyers bizarrely calling it an "unconstitutional power grab". Musk's lawyers argued, on his behalf, that production numbers - the lifeblood of the company's relationship to Wall Street - were immaterial, also claiming that the Tweet "dutifully complied with the [settlement] Order".

Twitter seems ready for the show.