The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Elon Musk. It alleged that the X owner had misled investors about his Twitter stock purchase in 2022.

The lawsuit alleges Musk violated federal security laws by purchasing shares of Twitter for artificially low prices before his $44 billion acquisition of the social media website. Musk called the SEC a “weaponized institution that does dirty political work”.

Musk began buying shares in Twitter, later renamed X by Musk, at the beginning of 2022. According to an SEC filing, Musk had acquired more than 5% ownership in the company by mid-March. The SEC required him to disclose his purchases. However, the lawsuit claims he did not do this promptly. This allowed him to underpay investors by $150 million.

The SEC claims that Musk did not disclose his beneficial ownership until April 4, 2022 – 11 days after it was due – in a report.

The SEC claims that investors who sold Twitter stock during this period did so for artificially low prices, causing them to suffer substantial economic damage.

The SEC wants the court to order Musk to pay “disgorgement for unjust enrichment resulting from his violation.” The SEC also wants civil penalties.

Musk called the SEC a ‘broken organization’ in response to the news on X Tuesday night.

Musk wrote: “They waste their time on this s— when so many crimes go unpunished.”

Musk attempted to back out of his deal to purchase Twitter in July 2022. The company sued him to enforce the agreement and Musk completed the takeover by October that year.

Musk has had previous run-ins with the SEC. In 2018, the SEC filed a lawsuit alleging Musk misled Tesla investors. The SEC announced in 2023 that it would seek a court order requiring Musk to testify during its investigation of his purchase of X. Later, he testified in the investigation.

The SEC’s lawsuit was filed just before Gary Gensler plans to resign from the commission. The new administration has not yet decided whether to continue the lawsuit. Paul Atkins has been selected by President-elect Donald Trump as the new SEC chief.

Musk is a major Trump supporter and Republican donor. Trump has appointed him to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).