US regulators seek to compel Musk to testify in their Twitter investigation

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The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday it is seeking a court order that would compel Elon Musk to testify as part of an investigation into his purchase of Twitter, now called X.

The SEC said in a filing in a San Francisco federal court that Musk failed to appear for testimony on September 15 despite an investigative subpoena served by the SEC and having raised no objections at the time it was served.

But two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear, said the agency's filing. Musk attempted to justify his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising, for the first time, several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location.

X, which is based in San Francisco, didn't immediately return a request for comment.

The SEC said it has been conducting a fact-finding investigation involving the period before Musk's takeover last year when Twitter was still a publicly traded company. The agency said it has not concluded that anyone has violated federal securities laws.