TeslaCNBC spoke with Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors. He said that the Justice Department was investigating short-sellers who had long been the target of his ire. Elon Musk also took aim at another frequent target, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Musk said in an email to CNBC Tuesday that he was encouraged by the Justice Department’s investigation into short-selling. This is what the SEC should’ve done but it didn’t.

According to reports, the Justice Department has begun an investigation into two previous short sellers of Tesla’s stock. The SEC has also been looking into Tesla. This has led to a bitter legal battle between Tesla and the regulator.

Musk took his grudge against the SEC to public and sometimes insulted it. In 2018He called it “shortseller enrichment committee” Nearly two years laterHe also made an unintentional dig at the SEC.

Recent developments at the SEC submitted a letter to a federal judge responding to previous allegations by Musk that the SEC had “broken promises” and engaged in a “pattern of conduct” amounting to harassment after an earlier settlement agreement. SEC accused Musk of fraud2018

Reuters reportedTesla’s failure to notify shareholders or the public properly of their complaint is being investigated by the SEC. The SEC is focusing on potential fire hazards related to Tesla’s solar panels system.

A request to comment was not immediately answered by the SEC.

Musk also targeted investing companies that depend on short-selling.

Sophisticated hedge funds often use short selling and complicated derivatives to profit from small investors. A shorting company will result in a negative publicity campaign that temporarily drives down stock prices. Then they cash out and do the same thing again. The term for this, as you may be aware, is ‘short & distort,” Musk said.

Tesla is known for its infamous 2020 performance skewered short sellersRed satin shorts were sold. Musk sent shorts in a box to David Einhorn, a Tesla investor.

Musk, who is well-known for moving the markets, tweets often. Investors are prompted to call. for more regulatory involvement. Critics called him a market manipulater.

The comments of the SpaceX CEO and Tesla CEO were made during the exact same email exchange in which he also voiced his opinion aboutHis ongoing dispute with President Joe Biden’s government.

According to The, The DOJ probe Wall Street JournalThe investigation is focused on so-called “spoofing,” and “scalping”. Scalping is the closing of positions by activist investors without disclosing their moves. Spoofing refers to illegally placing fake orders in order to crash or pump a stock’s price.

Carson Block of Muddy Waters Research, who is known for being a vocal opponent to Musk’s, has allegedly been among those who were served search warrants by federal investigators as part of the short-seller investigation.

Block made the following statement to The Journal: “I believe that all parties in an ecosystem must develop advanced data analysis capabilities in order to detect fraudulent trading. These analyses should not be outsourced to non-practitioners.

The New York Times last year reported that Block had stopped shorting electric car giant Tesla. Block was reported to be moving on from shorting the electric vehicle giant. letter the Times obtained, Block explained his decision to allies by saying “the market cap, the luster, the élan of Elon, is still there.”

Bloomberg reported that Andrew Left, another Tesla employee, saw his computers taken by federal agents. Left claimed in 2020He was actually shorting stock in the company.

Musk is not only advocating for his business, but he also wage war against short sellers. Musk was vocal against short sellers during last year’s GameStop stock market frenzy, which saw large numbers of Reddit investors speak out about it. helped pump the stock up 1,500% in two weeks.

“u can’t sell houses u don’t own u can’t sell cars u don’t own but u *can* sell stock u don’t own!? this is bs – shorting is a scam legal only for vestigial reasons,” Musk said in a tweetJanuary 20, 2121