Twitter says Elon Musk under federal investigation over takeover bid

Twitter wrote in a court filing unsealed on Thursday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is under federal investigation for his conduct in a takeover bid for Twitter announced earlier this year.

Musk said in April that he would purchase ownership of Twitter for $44 billion before reversing his decision three months later, prompting a lawsuit from the social media giant to force him to close the deal.

Attorneys for Twitter wrote that Musk’s lawyers claimed “investigative privilege” to avoid turning over documents related to the lawsuit, according to Reuters.

“This game of ‘hide the ball’ must end,” the attorneys wrote in the Oct. 6 filing, condemning Musk’s refusal to hand over certain records and calling on Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick to order the CEO to release relevant documents.

The Hill has reached out to Twitter for comment on the lawsuit.

The records withheld include drafts of a May 13 email to the Securities and Exchange Commission and a presentation to the Federal Trade Commission.

Musk attorney Alex Spiro said that Twitter’s executives are actually under federal investigation, telling Reuters that the court filing was a “misdirection.”

The Hill has reached out to Spiro for further comment.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has reversed course again and will close his deal to purchase Twitter by Oct. 28. If the deal is not closed by that date, the two parties will go to trial in November.