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Another Politically WEAPONIZED Fed Agency? SEC Wants to Sanction Elon Musk in Twitter Probe


Three weeks ago we brought you a story on the heels of the Brazilian versus X.com and Elon Musk powder keg.  In the immediate aftermath of a Brazilian Judge shutting down access and imposing crazy fines on Brazilians caught accessing Elon’s X.com platform (formerly Twitter), Elon shared a post by Shaun Maguire with the following commentary:

And it appears that things are heading that direction.  Today the SEC, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, whose job it is to ensure fairness in the arena of stock exchanges and large business deals which effect those exchange markets, announced that it will seek to sanction Elon Musk.

Why?  Because he failed to show up to give testimony about his takeover of Twitter at the court-ordered date and time because he was occupied overseeing a rocket launch, and apparently 3 hours notice that he couldn’t make the appointment wasn’t satisfactory for the SEC.

If you think Robby Starbuck’s assessment might be a little rash — let me show you a video, before we get into the thick of the news:

Now, if you don’t recognize a barely muzzled dog who wants to chew somebody’s face off… but is trying to hold back for fear of legal troubles of his own — I can’t help you.  But that is exactly what that video shows.  A thug who can barely contain his need to puff out his chest, and prove that he’s more powerful than the next guy.

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One more video before we break into the SEC decision today, and what it means.  This is Elon Musk discussing the SEC and the issues within the agency previously:

Ok, so we know where Elon stands on the SEC.  We know where Joe Biden stands on Elon Musk — no surprises there, for sure.  Ah… I should remind you from our story several weeks ago when Elon Musk WARNED THIS WOULD HAPPEN about the video where Kamala is explaining at the DNC how SHE feels about Elon Musk and X (formerly… well, you know).

So, let’s get to the SEC decision and how they feel about Elon and his X.com platform.  According to Reuters, the SEC is not very happy that Elon only gave them a 3 hour heads up that he couldn’t make the court hearing, and they feel like Elon is simply toying with them.  I don’t know — maybe?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday it intends to seek sanctions against Elon Musk after he failed to appear for court-ordered testimony for the regulator’s probe into his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.

In a filing in San Francisco federal court, the SEC said the sanctions motion would seek an order to show cause for why Musk should not be held in civil contempt for waiting until three hours before the scheduled Sept. 10 testimony to advise he would not show up.

Musk, whose businesses include electric car maker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and rocket company SpaceX and who is the world’s richest person, went to Florida’s Cape Canaveral that day to oversee the launch of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission.

But the SEC said that as SpaceX’s chief technical officer, Musk “surely was already aware” of the planned launch because the company had discussed it two days earlier. It said Musk’s actions violated a May 31 court order compelling his testimony.

“Musk’s excuse itself smacks of gamesmanship,” SEC lawyer Robin Andrews wrote. “The court must make clear that Musk’s gamesmanship and delay tactics must cease.”

I definitely would not put it past Elon Musk to “create” an issue if he feels like he’s being unjustly treated or targeted, either because of his political leanings or because of simple misaligned purposes driving towards some punitive outcome.

I also couldn’t blame him.

Elon’s lawyer, however, didn’t seem to be spinning things in a direction intended to snub the SEC.  As the Reuter’s article mentions, the reason for Elon’s last-minute ditch of the court proceedings was on account of an unforeseen emergency which could have been a matter of life or death:

Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Musk, called sanctions “drastic” and unnecessary, saying Musk’s absence from the launch could have endangered astronauts’ lives, and that his testimony has been rescheduled for Oct. 3.

Musk’s failure to testify on Sept. 10 resulted from an “emergency” he did not cause, and “there is no reason to believe such an emergency will reoccur,” Spiro wrote.

An SEC spokesperson declined to comment, though the regulator said in the court filing that nothing deters Musk from failing to show up on Oct. 3.

Keep in mind, the only legitimate beef the SEC has so far articulated against Elon is that he waited 10 days past the regulated time period during which an investor must disclose that they have reached the 5% threshold of ownership in a publicly traded company.  According to the same Reuter’s story, Elon says it was a mistake:

The SEC is investigating whether Musk violated securities laws in early 2022 when he started accumulating Twitter stock.

Musk has been criticized, including by Twitter shareholders, for waiting at least 10 days too long to disclose he was buying Twitter shares.

Investors must disclose when they reach 5% ownership of public companies. Musk eventually disclosed a 9.2% Twitter stake, and soon thereafter offered to buy the whole company.

In July, Musk said he misunderstood SEC disclosure requirements, and that “all indications” suggested his delay was a “mistake.”

The SEC sued last October after he missed a scheduled interview at its San Francisco office.
Musk has said the SEC was trying to “harass” him through subpoenas.

Is the SEC simply following procedure without prejudice of any sort towards Elon Musk?  Ha!  Not a chance.  Did Elon and his team of lawyers make a simple clerical mistake by overshooting the window of disclosure?  I doubt it.  And I’d say this is the perfect moment to review another video, to clear up any debate.  “I have no respect for the SEC”, says Elon in the video.  He DOES, however, explain the paradox at the end of this clip when the 60 Minutes interviewer is confused that in spite of his lack of respect for the SEC, he nevertheless is abiding by a ruling in their favor.  He does not respect the SEC, but he DOES respect the U.S. justice system.  Watch this:


Are we seeing a ramp up in both rhetoric and unveiled threats towards a person who stands as a legitimate threat to the progressive agenda, and the democratic powerbrokers’ ability to control the narrative on the American street?

That’s the 64 million dollar question, as I see it.  But the dots certainly line up from where I’m standing.  And there are far too many of them that connect in ways that mean a potential slaughter for freedom of speech in the U.S. if things get ratcheted up just a notch or two above where the intensity currently sits.

At this moment, it seems as though a potential stalemate and quieting of conflict may have set in.  According to a CNN report covering the story, Elon’s lawyer had this to say, potentially setting things into a stable, but heated, status quo:

The SEC asked the court to impose “meaningful conditional relief” if Musk does not appear at the new October testimony date. The SEC also said it intends to file a sanctions motion against Musk to recoup its travel costs for the cancelled testimony and for other relief.

In a response filing, Musk’s lawyers argued that the “Court’s intervention is not necessary, as the parties have already agreed to a new testimony date… Mr. Musk is already under an order from this Court to appear ‘absent an emergency that (Mr. Musk) did not create and could not avoid.’”

The filing represents just the latest flare up of long-simmering tension between Musk and the SEC.

But I’ll say this — like him or not, Elon Musk is not one to stand for injustice.  Watch this video of him explaining the corrupt end-around pressure game that the SEC played with him in the past when they reportedly weaponized the banks (funding capital…) against him, leveraging him to comply with the SEC via illegal means (this is generally called extortion):

One thing I know for sure — we have not seen the end of this, not by a longshot.  And after watching Elon Musk handle himself just over the past few weeks in relation to the Brazilian attack on X.com… I wouldn’t expect anything but fireworks from here on out.



 

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