Twitter Escalates Legal Battle, Seeks Subpoena Of Sen. Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2023, in Washington, DC. The committee held the hearing to review The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Semi-Annual Report to Congress. (MICHAEL A. MCCOY/GETTY IMAGES)

Adding to the ongoing saga between Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Elon Musk, Twitter on Thursday announced plans to subpoena Senator Warren.

In this photo illustration, logo of ‘xAI’ is displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of Elon Musk’s photo in Ankara, Turkiye on July 13, 2023. (HAKAN NURAL/GETTY IMAGES) 

Musk’s move is part of Twitter’s ongoing legal dispute with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with the tension rising a notch when Warren called for an investigation into possible conflicts of interest involving Musk’s roles as the CEO of both Twitter and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).

Musk is no longer the CEO of the microblogging platform.

Now Musk is currently facing competition from Meta Platform’s Threads, which Twitter had sent a cease and desist letter to the rival company.

The subpoena calls for the production of all communications between Warren and the FTC, as well as with the Securities and Exchange Commission, relating to Twitter or Musk, according to a court document filed Thursday.

Twitter’s filing came days after Warren urged the SEC to investigate Tesla and its board of directors for potential conflicts of interest and misappropriation of corporate assets.

Warren’s concerns stem from Musk’s decision to buy Twitter in a $44-billion deal, of which $13 billion was debt and about $15.4 billion came from Musk’s sale of Tesla shares.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., questions bank executives during the Senate Banking Housing and Urabn Affairs Committee hearing on “Examining the Failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank” in Washington on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (BILL CLARK/GETTY IMAGES)  

In a tweet, Warren shared her concerns about what she is said was a lack of action and oversight by Tesla’s board over any potential conflicts of interests between Musk and the electric carmaker.

Musk, in his usual irreverent fashion, responded to Warren with a lighthearted plea for friendship and an off-topic query about her favorite Halloween costume.

The sandpaper-like discussion between Musk and Warren is just the latest in a series of legal tussles between the Tesla CEO and federal regulatory bodies.

Musk and the SEC have repeatedly clashed, notably over his tweet in 2018 where he claimed to be considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share.

In the latest dispute, Twitter asked a court to terminate a consent order from the FTC concerning data breaches, which comes in the wake of the company’s cost-cutting measures.

Twitter alleges bias and overreach by the FTC.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Edited by Alberto Arellano and Joseph Hammond