It's Showtime for Mark Cuban

Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has been harassed by the SEC, will now get the chance to conduct a little harassment of his own.

A federal judge has granted Cuban the right to seek some internal e-mail messages, phone records and other communications from the S.E.C. regarding its case against him.

The SEC accused Cuban of being involved in insider trading when he sold shares in an Internet search engine company, Mamma.com, after receiving confidential information about a private offering in 2004. The S.E.C. said Cuban avoided a loss of $750,000 by selling his 600,000 shares.

Cuban will be able to request information from the SEC about how it handled the investigation. He contends that a senior enforcement attorney at the SEC, Jeffrey Norris, questioned his patriotism in an e-mail message to him because of rumors that one of Cuban’s companies was considering distributing a movie about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The SEC contends the senior enforcement attorney was not involved in the investigation against Cuban. But Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater, who dismissed the case with prejudice in June, said, “Additional discovery will enable the court to resolve whether the attorney played a role in investigating Cuban.”

Go Mark!