Tesla is Being Investigated by The Justice Department

It’s never a dull day when it comes to Tesla. The company is in the headlines almost everyday.
Earlier this week CEO Elon Musk was faced with a lawsuit for calling a British cave diver some pretty serious names, alleging that the diver is a pedophile.

Now Tesla is under investigation by the Justice Department over public statements made by Musk, according to two people familiar with the matter. Reportedly there is also a civil inquiry by securities regulators.

The fraud investigation by Federal prosecutors is investigating Musk’s tweet last month that he was contemplating taking Tesla private and had “funding secured” for the deal, said anonymous sources.

Tesla confirmed it has been contacted by the Justice Department and said that it had received a request for documents over Chief Executive Elon Musk’s public statements in August about taking the electric carmaker private.

“Last month, following Elon’s announcement that he was considering taking the company private, Tesla received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ and has been cooperative in responding to it,” Tesla said in a statement.

“We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process. We respect the DOJ’s desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received.”

The U.S. attorney’s office in the Northern District of California is conducting the investigation.

“We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process,” a Tesla spokesman said in an emailed response to Reuters.

“We respect the DOJ’s desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and have not been compensated for this article.