Elon Musk says the SEC has sent a “settlement demand” following its investigation into the Twitter settlement

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted a “demand for settlement” to tech billionaire Elon Musk. social media post on Thursday.

The post included a copy of a letter sent by Musk’s attorney, Quinn Emanuel Partner Alex Spiro, to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

The letter said the federal agency pressured Musk to pay a fine within 48 hours or agree to a plea deal that included “numerous charges” related to “certain purchases, sales and disclosures of Twitter stock.”

SEC has been investigates Musk or anyone working with him committed securities fraud in 2022. Tesla The CEO sold shares in his car company, Tesla, and increased his stake in Twitter before buying the social network, now known as X, through a buyout.

“Oh Gary, how could you do this to me?” Musk said in a post X shared on Thursday, with an emoji showing a face holding back tears and a copy of Spiro’s letter.

In another post on Thursday, Musk wrote that he “asked @Grok to take a picture of @GaryGensler. Very flattering I think!” That post included an AI-generated image depicting the SEC chair as a snail-like creature wearing a suit.

A person directly familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, told CNBC that the SEC sent Musk a settlement offer in recent days, but he was given more than 48 hours to respond.

If the SEC fails to reach a settlement with Musk, the person said, charges would not necessarily be pursued as a next step. When an agency can’t reach a settlement agreement with defendants, enforcement officials sometimes issue what’s called a Wells notice before making recommendations to the agency’s commissioners, who then decide whether to file charges.

Gensler, Musk and Spiro did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment Thursday.

An SEC spokesman said Friday that the agency does not comment on “the existence or lack of a possible investigation.”

In a letter, Musk’s lawyer claimed that the SEC had “harassed” Musk for more than six years with its investigative activities. including reopening an investigation into the billionaire’s health-tech venture Neuralink this week.

Spiro also wrote that he was personally subpoenaed by SEC staff but refused to comply. He accused the agency of an “illegally motivated campaign against Mr. Musk and individuals and companies associated with him” and demanded to know whether the White House or the SEC directed the action against his client.

In 2018, the SEC accused Musk committed securities fraud after tweeting that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 per share and that he had “secured the financing” for it. No private deals have taken place.

Musk and Tesla each paid a $20 million fine to the agency and entered into a revised settlement agreement that required Musk to temporarily step down as chairman of the board at Tesla. Since then, Musk has repeatedly expressed his disdain for the SEC.

The leader of Tesla, SpaceX and X has also become a megadonor to Republicans in recent years, helping to return President-elect Donald Trump to the White House.

In July of this year, Trump promised to fire the SEC chairman. After Trump’s election victory Gensler announced instead, he said that he will resign from his position.

In a separate place civil suit The Oklahoma Firefighters Retirement and Retirement System, which is the focus of a recent SEC investigation into the Twitter deal, is suing Musk, accusing him of intentionally concealing his progressive investments in the social network and his intent to buy the company.

Lawyers for the pension fund argued that Musk was influencing the decisions of other shareholders and putting them at a disadvantage by not publicly disclosing his investments and intentions to buy Twitter.