SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, calling the securities regulator officials “bast**ds” for bringing fraud charges against him over his years-old tweets about taking the automotive company private. 

After being the talk of the town for offering to purchase Twitter in a $43 billion cash takeover, Musk shared his criticism during a TED Conference in Vancouver.

The 50-year-old said that even though funding to take Tesla private was secured when he posted the tweets in 2018, the government agency went on to pursue “the active public investigation nonetheless.”

“So I was forced to concede to the SEC unlawfully. Those bast**ds,” Musk told the audience at the conference.

He further added that he felt pressurized to settle things with the SEC because banks threatened to stop providing capital if he didn’t do so, which would have resulted in an immediate bankruptcy for Tesla. 

“So that’s like having a gun to your child’s head,” Musk said.

“I was forced to admit that I lied to save Tesla’s life and that’s the only reason,” he added.

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Musk and his automotive company each paid $20 million in penalties, along with him stepping down from being chairman in order to resolve the claims made by the SEC. The agency had claimed that Musk misled investors on August 7, 2018, by uploading tweets on Twitter that suggested that he had  “funding secured” to take the company private. The SEC added that his tweets on the matter “lacked an adequate basis in fact.”

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Talking about his recent Twitter takeover offer, Musk said he made the bid as he believes “it’s very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech.”

When asked if he had enough funds to complete the deal, Musk asserted, “I have sufficient assets. I can do it if possible.”