Elon Musk fired back at U.S. regulators Monday (March 11).

His lawyers argue that a recent tweet from the Tesla chief did not violate his fraud settlement and he can't be held in contempt.

It's part of the latest public clash between Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Musk sent out a tweet to his more than 24 million Twitter followers last month claiming Tesla would make around 500,000 cars this year.

The SEC then asked a federal court in Manhattan to hold Musk in contempt for that.

They said it breached a fraud settlement from back in September.

Musk's lawyers disputed that Monday and called it quote 'concerning and unprecedented overreach on the part of the SEC'.

The fraud agreement came out of a much earlier tweet that got Musk in hot water.

In August he tweeted he had 'funding secured' to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

The SEC said he misled investors and it amounted to securities fraud.

The deal to go private never came, and the SEC filed a lawsuit.

Musk settled as part of a deal that blocked him from putting insider information about Tesla on social media if he hadn't asked the company first.

Musk also stepped down as chairman plus he and Tesla agreed to pay $20 million dollars each in fines.

Musk's latest spat with the SEC is added pressure on the Tesla boss.

He's struggling to help the company turn a consistent profit after a price cut for the Model 3 sedan.

And on Monday the company made a sudden U-turn, rolling back plans to close stores around the world but said it would raise the prices of higher-end vehicles.

It's not clear what will happen if Musk is actually held in contempt.

Legal experts have said the SEC could has a range of options against Musk.

They could slap him with a larger fine, restrict more of his activities, or remove him from Tesla's board.