Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino said Thursday that as Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter, a legal source told his network that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice launched what he described as a "joint investigation" into a "myriad of Musk regulatory issues primarily involving Tesla."

If true, this appears to be nothing more than a blatant act of political intimidation.

Musk said during a TED appearance on Thursday that the SEC's investigations into Tesla are "like having a gun to your child's head.