Judge tells Elon Musk and SEC to handle issue over Tesla tweet amongst themselves

The SEC had their day in court regarding their attempt to hold Elon Musk in contempt of court over a tweet he wrote about Tesla production.

A Judge told both parties to handle matters amongst themselves over the next two weeks.

Last month, the SEC asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt for violating one of the terms of the settlement of the SEC’s complaint against Musk over his “funding secured” comment about his attempt to take Tesla private.

The SEC settlement requires that Musk get pre-approval for tweets that “reasonably could contain material information” and which could move the stock — which they claim he didn’t for a tweet sent in February.

The government agency argues that Musk should have seel approval from Tesla before sending a tweet referencing the automaker’s production guidance for 2019.

Musk’s lawyers have sent a letter to the judge claiming that the tweet wasn’t material and he didn’t need to receive approval under the new policy of the settlement.

The SEC argued against this interpretation in a lengthy document filed with the court.

Today, they had a hearing before Judge Nathan who said that the government lawyers should make more of an effort to resolve the issue without going to court to hold Musk in contempt.

Musk was pleased with the judge’s decision.

He said in a statement:

“I have great respect for Judge Nathan, and I’m pleased with her decision today. The tweet in question was true, immaterial to shareholders, and in no way a violation of my agreement with the SEC. We have always felt that we should be able to work through any disagreements directly with the SEC, rather than prematurely rushing to court. Today, that is exactly what Judge Nathan instructed.”

The SEC and Musk have two weeks to show the court that they have resolved the issue and agree on the interpretation of the settlement.