A Democratic commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission has objected to the regulator’s latest settlement with Elon Musk.

Robert Jackson, the lone Democrat at the SEC, issued a dissenting statement on Tuesday evening after a judge in New York approved a deal that resolved a dispute about the Tesla chief executive’s tweets.

The SEC had accused Mr Musk in February of violating a settlement last year that required him to get pre-approval from a Tesla lawyer for material tweets about the company. The new agreement outlined specific sorts of information that required advance approval.

Mr Musk has denied breaking the initial settlement, and the judge overseeing the case did not make a ruling on the question.

“Given Mr. Musk’s conduct, I cannot support a settlement in which he does not admit what is crystal clear to anyone who has followed this bizarre series of events: Mr. Musk breached the agreement he made last year with the Commission—and with American investors,” said Mr Jackson.

The comment was a rare dissent at an agency that has been relatively united, at least in public, on enforcement actions under the chairmanship of Jay Clayton, who was appointed by Donald Trump in 2017.

Two Republican commissioner had privately objected to parts of the initial settlement with Mr Musk last year, the Financial Times previously reported.