Twitter Lawsuit: Musk's Legal Team Leans On Whistleblower Card To Seek Extension

The Twitter, Inc. TWTR whistleblower complaint might be just what the doctor ordered for Elon Musk and his legal team, who were already trying to buy time.

What Happened: According to Reuters, at a hearing in the Wilmington, Delaware Court of Chancery, Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro made a representation to judge Kathaleen McCormick to delay the lawsuit initiated by Twitter to enforce the Tesla CEO’s deal to take the social media company private. Spiro reasoned that it would take a few weeks for Musk to look into the complaint raised by whistleblower Peiter Zatko, also known as Mudge in his social circles.

Zatko, a cybersecurity expert and a former Twitter employee, said in a complaint filed with multiple federal agencies that the social media platform has violated an 11-year-old settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission on a solid security plan.

See also: Twitter Asks Judge To Order Elon Musk To Turn In Texts Sent Between January And July

Twitter Wants Trial To Start On Schedule: Twitter’s lawyer William Savitt, meanwhile, said that Musk is using the whistleblower allegations to wriggle out of a deal, which he entered into without properly assessing risks. He requested that Musk and his team be prevented from attaching whistleblower complaints to the lawsuit, and even if they do, the five-day trial should begin as per schedule on Oct. 17.

To show that Musk isn’t too keen on closing the deal, Savitt read out a text from a message the Tesla, Inc. TSLA CEO sent to one of the deal’s financiers in May, which implied that the billionaire thought it would not make sense to proceed with the acquisition if World War III were to break out.

The judge ended Tuesday's hearing without saying when she would rule, the report added.

Price Action: Twitter closed Tuesday’s session little changed at $38.65 but added 1.22% in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.