UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect a comment from Twitter.
The Delaware Chancery Court Wednesday approved Elon Musk’s request for testimony from a former high-ranking Twitter official to be included in counterclaims over the company’s lawsuit against Musk for trying to stop his purchase of the company, despite the company’s protest.
Musk’s attorneys argued Aug. 29 that Twitter broke the terms of its deal with him by not revealing the nature of executives’ misconduct alleged by former Twitter Chief Security Officer Peter “Mudge” Zatko. Court Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick denied Musk’s request to push back the set Oct. 17 trial date but allowed Zatko’s allegations to be considered.
Twitter fired Zatko early this year, according to CBS News. He has accused company executives of breaking Federal Trade Commission (FTC) user privacy-related rules and allowing Indian government agents user information access, claiming account deletion did not immediately erase all user information and the company could not count bots on the platform. (RELATED: Elon Musk Calls For More Fossil Fuels And Nuclear Power To Avert Energy Crisis)
FILE PHOTO: Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk walks next to a screen showing an image of Tesla Model 3 car during an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
Musk announced an attempt to cancel his purchase of Twitter in a July 8 letter, accusing Twitter of unwillingness to give accurate data about how many ‘fake or spam’ were on the platform, The Associated Press reported. Musk’s lawyers cited Zatko’s reported testimony letter to the SEC, FTC and DOJ in an Aug. 29 letter, but Twitter argued his testimony was “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies,” CNN reported.
“We look forward to presenting our case in Court beginning on October 17th and intend to close the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk,” a Twitter spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The law firm representing Musk, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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