Texas judge who owns Tesla stock recuses from X’s advertiser lawsuit

A Texas justice who was assigned 2 cases involving Elon Musk’s X level has recused himself from 1 of them, soon aft a study that he owns banal successful Tesla.

The study raised questions astir O’Connor’s impartiality and X’s motivations successful bringing the suits successful this peculiar court. NPR reported that the national tribunal successful bluish Texas, dissimilar galore different courts wherever judges are randomly assigned, doles retired cases to judges based connected which part they’re filed in. That gives plaintiffs an antithetic level of certainty successful who volition apt perceive their case. X and the suits’ defendants are not based successful Texas, though Musk said precocious helium plans to determination it to Texas. X did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Critics person accused X of forum shopping, oregon looking for a sympathetic justice oregon territory to record its cases. Their statement is underscored by the information that antitrust experts deliberation X volition person a pugnacious clip proving advertisers’ boycott violated the law. Former DOJ antitrust main Bill Baer told the BBC that successful general, “a politically motivated boycott is not an antitrust violation. It is protected code nether our First Amendment.”

Musk’s lawsuits person already been capable to punish opponents with ineligible fees. The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), an advertiser conjugation created by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), a suspect successful X’s suit, reportedly disbanded successful the aftermath of the complaint. Business Insider reported that the radical felt it needed to use its constricted funds to combat the suit.