International
Elon Musk takes stand in Tesla tweet fraud trial
January 23 | By AFP | Glenn Chapman |
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stand in a California fraud trial on Friday, accused of lying in tweets about taking the auto company private, punishing investors.
Musk was called to testify by lawyers for angry investors who accuse him of costing them millions of dollars in 2018 with untrue tweets about having funding secured to buy out shareholders at $420 a share.
The multi-billionaire’s tweets sent the Tesla share price on a rollercoaster ride and Musk was sued by shareholders who say the tycoon acted recklessly in an effort to squeeze investors who had bet against the company.
Musk, who bought Twitter itself in October, downplayed the power of his tweets noting under questioning that he once posted that he thought Tesla share price was too high, and “it went higher, which is counter-intuitive.”
“What I’m trying to say is that the causal relationship is clearly not there simply because of a tweet,” Musk said in a testimony that lasted only thirty minutes and was to be continued on Monday.
The hearing on Friday began with Harvard law and business professor Guhan Subramanian, who was called as an expert witness by the plaintiffs.
He called Musk’s tweeted proposal to take Tesla private as “illusory” and “just wrong” in how it deviated wildly from the way such mega-deals usually take place.
“All I can say is this is just wrong; as a matter of deal process… this isn’t correct,” Subramanian said while being questioned by a defense lawyer about Musk’s tweets.
‘Reckless’ words
Testimonies in the trial opened Wednesday with a lawyer for the upset investors telling jurors Musk lied about having funding in place.
Nicholas Porritt, who represents lead plaintiff Glen Littleton and other Tesla investors, said the tweets cost “regular people” to lose “millions and millions of dollars.”
Called as the first witness, 71-year-old Littleton told jurors he was heavily invested in Tesla in 2018 in a way that banked on the share price climbing to $500 or more.
Littleton testified that he was “pretty shocked” by Musk’s tweet about taking the company private at $420 a share because it threatened almost all the money he had invested in Tesla.
“It was going to pretty much wipe me out,” Littleton said.
Littleton told jurors he scrambled to save what he could of his investments, getting out of most of his positions at a huge loss.
Musk is expected to continue testifying at trial on Monday, when his lawyers will get a chance to refute the accusation that he was being deceitful.
The case revolves around a pair of tweets in which Musk said “funding secured” for a project to buy out the publicly traded electric automaker, then in a second tweet added that “investor support is confirmed.”
Porritt told jurors that Musk had selected the $420 share price in the tweet “as a joke” and that the funding to take Tesla private was never locked in, nor credibly pursued.
In his own opening remarks, Musk attorney Alex Spiro said that even though the tweets may have been a “reckless choice of words”, they were “not fraud, not even close.”
The fraud trial is expected to last three weeks.
International
Washington declares State of Emergency as atmospheric river brings severe flooding
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in response to severe flooding affecting several counties, where more than 75,000 people remain under evacuation alerts following heavy rainfall that has caused significant water accumulation.
An atmospheric river has battered the state since Monday, dropping several centimeters of rain and threatening serious flooding in communities near major rivers. More precipitation is expected in the coming days, and the National Weather Service (NWS) has forecast between 15 and 20 centimeters of rain from Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon in communities along the far western region, worsening the emergency.
Rainfall totals in higher elevations near the Canadian border could exceed 20 centimeters, further increasing the risk.
“Lives will be at stake in the coming days,” Ferguson warned during a press conference.
The governor underscored the severity of the situation and said he will request an expedited federal disaster declaration from President Donald Trump’s administration to access additional resources for the emergency response.
“I want to urge all Washington residents to pay close attention to alerts from their counties and emergency management departments. If you receive an evacuation order, please follow it,” he added.
Most rivers from the Canadian border down to southwestern Washington are in flood stage. Several are expected to reach record levels, including the Skagit River, which could exceed its 1990 flood peak when water levels rose 1.2 meters.
Around 75,000 people are at risk of flooding in Skagit County, where authorities continue to maintain an evacuation watch.
The Washington National Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been activated to assist with evacuations and response efforts in rural areas affected by flooding.
International
U.S. to require five-year social media history from tourists under Visa Waiver Program
Tourists from 42 countries covered by the U.S. Visa Waiver Program would be required to provide their social media history from the past five years in order to enter the United States, according to a new proposal released Wednesday by the administration of President Donald Trump.
The initiative, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), aims to more thoroughly review the activity of travelers entering the country through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). When asked about the plan’s potential impact on tourism, Trump insisted that the United States is “doing very well.”
“We just want people to come here and be safe… We want to make sure we’re not letting the wrong people into our country,” the president said during a press conference at the White House.
The proposal, published in the Federal Register, seeks to expand the information collected from visitors entering the U.S. for up to three months under the visa waiver program.
ESTA applies to travelers from 42 countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, France, Japan, Israel and Qatar.
In addition to requiring a five-year social media history, the plan would increase the amount of personal data requested, such as phone numbers and email addresses used over the past ten years. It also calls for family details, including names, dates of birth and places of birth of the traveler’s relatives.
The proposal further includes a new mobile tool that would allow any foreign visitor to record their departure from the United States.
International
Six ecuadorian soldiers jailed pending trial for alleged extrajudicial execution
Six Ecuadorian soldiers were placed in pre-trial detention on Wednesday by a civilian court over an alleged extrajudicial execution, the Attorney General’s Office reported.
As part of his war on drug trafficking, President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict in 2024 and deployed the Armed Forces to the streets. Human rights organizations have since denounced military abuses and a rise in disappearances attributed to state agents.
A judge in the coastal province of Santa Elena ordered pre-trial detention for six soldiers for alleged extrajudicial execution, the prosecution stated on X. It added that the troops, now under investigation for the suspected crime, were in charge of an operation in the resort town of Salinas, during which one of the detainees died.
In a separate case involving alleged abuse of authority, a group of 17 soldiers is currently on trial for the forced disappearance of four minors whose bodies were found burned near an Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) base.
In December 2024, Saúl Arboleda, Steven Medina, and brothers Josué and Ismael Arroyo — aged 11 to 15 — were detained by a military patrol in southern Guayaquil.
According to Amnesty International, Ecuador’s Prosecutor’s Office has received reports of at least 43 possible cases of forced disappearance since 2023, the year Noboa took office pledging a tough stance against organized crime.
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