An attempt to muzzle Elon Musk during his ongoing legal battle with Tesla shareholders over his infamous 2018 “funding secured” tweet could improperly limit his ability to discuss his ongoing bid to buy Twitter, the billionaire’s legal team argued in a new court filing Wednesday.
Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, slammed the plaintiffs’ motion for temporary restraining order during a class-action lawsuit in which shareholders are seeking billions of dollars in damages.
In the filing, Spiro argued the request for an order barring the Tesla CEO from making public statements related to the case should be denied – describing it as an attempt to “trample on Elon Musk’s First Amendment rights by barring him from publicly discussing this case or its underlying facts.”
“Plaintiff’s unconstitutionally overboard and vague proposed restraint seemingly would inhibit Mr. Musk’s ability to communicate with Tesla’s shareholders, communicate regarding his current proposal to purchase Twitter, and fully pursue his legal rights in the separate SEC action,” Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, wrote in the filing.
The shareholders claim they lost money after Musk tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share. Musk has denied he was lying in the tweet, which triggered the class-action lawsuit as well as an ongoing legal battle with the SEC.
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