The Securities and Exchange Commission has said it is seeking a court order that would compel Elon Musk to give evidence as part of an investigation into his purchase of Twitter, now called X.

The SEC said in a filing in a San Francisco federal court that Mr Musk had failed to appear to give evidence on September 15 despite an investigative subpoena served by the commission and him raising no objections at the time it was served.

But “two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear”, said the agency’s filing.

“Musk attempted to justify his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising, for the first time, several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location.”

The SEC said it has been conducting a fact-finding investigation involving the period before Mr Musk’s takeover last year when Twitter was still a publicly traded company.

The agency said it has not concluded that anyone violated federal securities laws.