Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is attempting to get a 2018 courtroom settlement that requires him to have his Twitter posts pre-approved tossed out.

Legal professional Alex Spiro filed a movement Tuesday in U.S. District Court docket in Manhattan on behalf of Musk. The movement argues that a U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) subpoena ought to be nullified, the Related Press reported. Spiro additionally contended that with out courtroom authorization, the SEC cannot take motion in regard to Musk's Twitter posts.

The Twitter dispute started a number of years in the past and has value each Musk and Tesla thousands and thousands. Musk and his firm have been ordered to pay $20 million in civil fines apiece after Musk tweeted that he had the aptitude to take Tesla non-public at $420 a share, although the funding to take action had not but been secured, in line with the AP.

The corporate remains to be publicly traded, however the tweet spurred a lift in inventory costs for Tesla.

Elon Musk Twitter Request
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is asking a federal choose to throw out a 2018 courtroom settlement during which Musk has to have somebody pre-approve his posts on Twitter. Above, Musk speaks on the Satellite tv for pc Convention and Exhibition on March 9, 2020, in Washington, D.C.Susan Walsh/AP Picture

The pre-approval of Musk's tweets was one of many circumstances within the settlement, which additionally eliminated him as Tesla's board chairman.

Spiro mentioned that the SEC has leveraged the October 2018 settlement "to trample on Mr. Musk's First Modification rights and to impose prior restraints on his speech." The movement requires the settlement to be discarded, arguing that Musk agreed to the deal when Tesla was a youthful firm.

It additionally says that the SEC's involvement threatened financing for Tesla, the AP reported.

The SEC subpoena, in line with the movement, got here in November in response to a Twitter publish the place Musk talked about a plan to unload 10 % of his Tesla inventory to pay taxes. It requested for info on Tesla's compliance with the courtroom order and whether or not the chief obtained pre-approval for his tweets.

The SEC has beforehand refuted that it issued subpoenas within the case involving Musk, in line with the AP.

Musk's present Twitter web page contains posts about his companies, international affairs just like the Russia-Ukraine battle and the occasional meme.

On the identical day earlier this month, Musk individually posted a tweet about Tesla's synthetic intelligence and a meme that pictured a crocodile holding a Croc shoe in its mouth with the caption: "Look how instinctively, the mom croc carries the infant in its mouth. Nature is gorgeous."

The SEC settlement didn't stop Musk from posting a tweet that obtained backlash late final month for his comparability of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to German dictator Adolph Hitler.

Reached by Newsweek, the SEC declined to remark.

Replace 03/08/22, 1:05 p.m. ET: This story was up to date with extra info and background.