Elon Musk tweeted his way into trouble.

Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday, accusing him of making “false and deceptive” statements in front of investors. The SEC is asking for a federal court to ban Musk from being an officer or director of any public company.

This complaint is based on a Tweet Musk sent to the public on 7 August about taking Tesla Private.

Musk stated that he was considering buying Tesla outright at $420. “Funding secured.”

The SEC claimed that he did not possess the funds.

The SEC’s complaint stated that “in truth, Musk has not discussed or confirmed key terms of the deal, such as price, with any possible funding source.”

The SEC stated that Musk’s tweet and the subsequent tweets he sent over the following three hours caused “significant disruption and confusion in the Tesla stock market” as well as damage to investors. Tesla stock soared nearly 9% on the day Musk tweeted. Since then, it has fallen substantially.

Tesla’s

Musk stated in a press release that he was “deeply saddened” and disappointed by this unjustified SEC action. “I’ve always acted in the interest of transparency, truth and investors. “Integrity is my most valuable value and I have never compromised it in any way”.

In a statement released jointly, Tesla’s board and Elon Musk said that “they are fully confident” in his integrity and leadership.

The statement stated that “our focus is on continuing to ramp up Model 3 production, and providing for our shareholders, customers and employees.”

Stephanie Avakian said, at a Thursday press conference, that the SEC is dedicated to holding individuals accountable, regardless of their “celebrity or technological innovator reputation.”

According to the complaint, Musk increased the price of going private from $420 per share because he “had recently discovered the significance of the number in marijuana culture”, and believed that his girlfriend would think it was funny. He was in a relationship with the singer Grimes.

According to the SEC, Musk didn’t consult any of his board members, staff or external advisers prior to sending the tweets.

This is a serious matter. Charles Whitehead said that this is the basis for pursuing insiders and manipulators of markets. This is a serious accusation.

Musk withdrew his plan to make Tesla private just three weeks after first tweeting about it. Later, he explained that his comment about “funding secure” was made after a conversation with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. He said the fund had encouraged him to privatize Tesla and increased its investment.

Tesla announced last week that the Justice department is investigating remarks made by Musk. Tesla said that it received a request from the Justice Department for documentation and was cooperating. Tesla claimed it was not subpoenaed.

Musk’s claim that he was manipulating the stock market has also been contested by shareholders.

Musk’s erratic behaviour has made him the subject of a number of negative headlines. Musk has sent tweets at all hours of the night, and dismissed analysts during corporate earnings calls. He criticized a man working to save boys from a cave trapped in Thailand and sparred journalists and investors who he felt were unfair towards him. Musk promised to launch an site called Pravda in order to criticize the media.

CNNMoney’s Matt Egan, Jackie Wattles and others contributed to the report.