Benzinga | Jan 16, 2022 11:43AM EST

Tesla Demands Law Firm To Fire Attorney Who Questioned Elon Musk: Wall Street Journal

A Wall Street Journal report says that Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) asked its law firm, Cooley LLP, to fire an attorney involved in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe of CEO Elon Musk.

According to the report, Tesla threatened to withhold the company's business from the law firm if it didn't get rid of the unnamed attorney.

The lawyer that Tesla wanted Cooley to fire previously worked at the SEC and interviewed Musk during the agency's investigation in his 2018 tweet claiming to have secured funding to potentially take the company private. The investigation resulted in a settlement under which Musk and Tesla agreed to each pay a $20 million fine and Musk stepped aside as Tesla chairman for three years.

The firm did not remove the associate, and the Journal reports that Tesla has moved to replace Cooley or hire additional lawyers on several cases since December.

People familiar with the matter told WSJ that Musk-owned SpaceX has already stopped enlisting Cooley for regulatory work.

Related Link: Elon Musk's SpaceX To Launch Three South African-Made Nanosatellites: Why This Is Historically Important