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Elon Musk is under a federal investigation related to his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter, BBC News reports.

The news came from a court filing made public on Thursday about the latest in ongoing legal disputes between the billionaire and the social network.

While the filing said he was under investigation, it did not say what the focus was.

"This game of 'hide the ball' must end," the company said in the court filing.

Mr Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twitter - which sued Mr Musk in July to force him to close the deal - said lawyers for the Tesla CEO had claimed "investigative privilege" when refusing to hand over documents it wanted.

It also said it had requested that Mr Musk's attorneys produce their communications with federal authorities months ago, but they had not done so.

In late September, Mr Musk's attorneys provided a "privilege log", identifying documents to be withheld.

The log referenced drafts of a 13 May email to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - the American regulator which enforces the law against market manipulation.

It also referenced a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission - whose principal mission is promoting antitrust law and consumer protection.

The court request was filed on the same day the court granted a stay of litigation to allow Twitter and Mr Musk to close the takeover deal.