Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over the $44 billion Twitter deal, the company said in a court filing

• Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities, Twitter said in a court filing.
• On October 6, Twitter requested that Musk's team hand over any correspondence with federal authorities.

Billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in relation to the Twitter acquisition, the company said in a court filing released on Thursday.

In a letter addressed to Judge Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick on October 6, Twitter requested the court compel Musk's team to hand over any correspondence with federal authorities. The request was made the same day that McCormick put the Twitter v. Musk trial on hold.

"This game of 'hide the ball' must end," the company said in the letter. "Twitter wants those documents, because they bear upon key issues in this litigation."

Musk's representatives did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside normal working hours.

Twitter declined to comment on the filing.

The company did not specify in the letter the exact focus of the investigation, or which federal authorities were conducting them. The letter did, however, reference communications between Musk, the SEC, and the FTC.

In April, the SEC wrote a letter to Musk asking him to explain the delay in disclosing his 9.2% stake in the company.

Alex Spiro, an attorney on Musk's team, told Reuters that Twitter's court filing was a "misdirection," adding: "It is Twitter's executives that are under federal investigation."

After Musk revived his $44 billion bid for Twitter, McCormick gave the Tesla CEO until October 28 to close the deal. If the deal is not closed by this deadline, a new trial date will be set for November.