Elon Musk Checkmates Elizabeth Warren, Subpoenas Dem Senator for Communications with US Agencies

Twitter boss Elon Musk has checkmated Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) by issuing a subpoena for the Democrat senator to hand over her communications with U.S. agencies. The move from Musk comes after the Native American lawmaker hit the tech entrepreneur with two subpoenas.

Twitter has asked a court to terminate a consent order struck last year with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to data breaches.

In 2011, Twitter and the FTC reached a consent decree after two data breaches at the social media company.

Warren is one of several Democratic senators who asked the agency to investigate Twitter’s privacy policies and she is trying to send the SEC after Musk.

The court filing today said the subpoena to Warren demands communications regarding Twitter or its owner Elon Musk between her office and the FTC, as well as her office and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This comes after Warren sent a letter telling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Tesla and its board of directors over possible “conflicts of interest, misappropriation of corporate assets, and other negative impacts to Tesla shareholders” over Musk’s Twitter takeover

According to CNBC:

In the letter sent to SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Monday, Warren wrote that the Tesla board’s “apparent lack of independence” from Musk, combined with “inaction and incomplete disclosures, raise questions about possible violations of securities laws and exchange rules which fall under SEC’s jurisdiction.”

The nine-page letter, first obtained by CNBC, reiterates concerns Warren had raised in earlier correspondence to Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm in December 2022, after Musk led a $44 billion buyout of Twitter.

The take-private deal included $13 billion in debt, and Musk reportedly sold billions of dollars worth of his Tesla shares to finance the transaction.

A spokesperson for the SEC’s Office of Public Affairs said Gensler “will respond to Members of Congress directly.”

Musk appointed himself CEO of Twitter after the deal closed and quickly made sweeping changes to the social network while cutting more than three-quarters of the staff at the company and authorizing teams of employees from Tesla and SpaceX to assist