Tesla says it has not received subpoena on Model 3 production

There's no refuting of anything in the article. They actually CONFIRM that they've gotten document requests from DOJ, just voluntarily provided rather than after a subpoena. Watch your bias.

There's a big difference between handing over documents voluntarily to a government request and being forced to by subpoena though.

I'm curious on the exact wording the original article had.

the original article said ex-employees had received subpoena, not tesla.

The WSJ article is being discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18311492.

Really opens your eyes to how careful a company(with shares) must be with anything said, if projections call for criminal probe.

Journalists outright lying... This one is shocking, I've never seen it before...

The WSJ article did not claim that Tesla received a subpoena.

You're right, it is unusual. Journalists being falsely accused of lying, on the other hand, is depressingly common.