SEC says Musk's contempt defense 'borders on the ridiculous'

U.S. securities regulators are fighting back against Tesla CEO Elon Musk, arguing that he should be held in contempt for brazenly violating a federal court order.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says in a response to Musk filed last night that he didn't get a single tweet approved by a company lawyer, violating terms of the October order that settled fraud allegations.

Agency lawyers wrote that Musk interprets the order as not requiring pre-approval unless he decides the tweets are meaningful to investors. The agency says Musk's argument that tweeting about car production forecasts wasn't material information "borders on the ridiculous."

The settlement stemmed from tweets by Musk in August about having the money to take Tesla private at $420 per share when the funding wasn't secured.