A federal judge who bought significant Tesla stock has refused to recuse himself from a legal battle involving Elon Musk’s X Corp. and nonprofit Media Matters for America. US District Judge Reed O’Connor, presiding over the Northern District of Texas, acquired Tesla shares valued between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2022, according to a financial disclosure report. Despite his investment, Judge O’Connor declined Media Matters’ motion for recusal in a ruling issued Friday.
Media Matters cited the public association between Musk and Tesla, arguing that Tesla should be considered an interested party in the case. However, Judge O’Connor disagreed, stating that Media Matters failed to provide sufficient evidence linking X Corp.’s connection to Tesla as grounds for recusal, characterizing their motion as inappropriate gamesmanship.
Despite this decision, O’Connor recused himself from another similar lawsuit filed by X against the World Federation of Advertisers, possibly due to his investment in Unilever, a named defendant in that case.
O’Connor’s refusal to step down has drawn criticism. Harvard Law School Professor Noah Feldman argued in a op-ed that O’Connor’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned due to his financial ties to Tesla. Feldman suggested that the judge’s connection to Tesla could influence his impartiality given Musk’s strong association with both X and Tesla.
The ethical standards governing federal judges stipulate that they must disqualify themselves if their impartiality could be reasonably questioned or if they have a financial interest in the outcome. Critics believe that these guidelines apply to Judge O’Connor’s involvement in X v. Media Matters.
For more details, you can read the full article on Ars Technica.