Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has long feuded with Twitter owner Elon Musk. On Monday, she renewed that feud by sending a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.
She worried about conflicts of interest at the board of Tesla, a publicly traded company also owned by Musk.
Twitter retaliated with a subpoena.
“Chair Gensler, I am writing to request an investigation into Tesla, Inc., and the company’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosures regarding the actions of its Board of Directors (the “Board”) in managing the apparent conflicts of its Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk,” Warren wrote Monday.
“Musk’s actions since purchasing Twitter and becoming its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – while remaining Tesla’s CEO – have raised concerns about conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts to Tesla shareholders.”
In response, Twitter is planning to subpoena certain documents from Warren.
On Thursday, the company notified a federal court on that it’s planning to subpoena Warren’s relevant communications with the S.E.C. and the Federal Trade Commission.
Warren’s office has remained silent on Twitter’s attempt to serve her a subpoena.
Meanwhile, Twitter has responded to requests for comment by sending a poop emoji. Reuters described the emoji as Twitter’s “standard practice” to media requests. In the past, Musk has referred to Warren as “Senator Karen” amid her complaints.
Last year, Twitter settled a suit with the F.T.C. for $150 million, following allegations of misusing data to target advertising. In 2011, the compnay. In 2011, Twitter suffered two data breaches. The company reached a consent decree with the F.T.C., and it agreed not to mislead users about their data privacy.
“The Board [of Tesla] also does not appear to have adequately disclosed concerns about these issues to investors, undermining shareholders’ ability to make informed voting and investing decisions and to hold their fiduciaries accountable,” Warren alleged.
Musk became CEO and owner only after these scandals, and he’s asked for changes to these two orders. On July 13, Twitter petitioned a federal court for “an order terminating or modifying the consent order.”
However, the F.T.C. is still seeking to enforce these orders, with a hearing scheduled for next month to address Musk’s requests.
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The Horn editorial team