'Twitter Exec Trashing Free Speech, Mocking Asperger's:' Elon Musk Reacts To Sting Op As 3 More Senior Staffers Quit

Twitter Inc TWTR continues to bleed talent, with three senior employees — including two vice presidents — reportedly leaving the company, as it faces more hurdles in the form of a sting operation.  

What Happened: Those making a beeline for the exit include Ilya Brown, a vice president of product management, Katrina Lane, vice president of Twitter Service, and Max Schmeiser, head of data science, according to a Bloomberg report that cited a Twitter spokesperson.

Recently, Twitter fired its consumer head, Kayvon Beykpour, and revenue product lead, Bruce Falck.

See Also: How To Buy Tesla (TSLA) Stock

Why It Matters: The latest exits come at a time when Twitter is embroiled in a sting operation carried out by a far-right activist group called Project Veritas.

On Tuesday, Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk reacted to the sting videos purportedly featuring Twitter employees.

In one video, Sirushti Murugesan, an alleged Twitter senior engineer, can be heard saying “Twitter does not believe in free speech.” Musk asked on Twitter if the video was authentic.

Another video featuring Alex Martinez, who is described as a “Lead Client Partner” at Twitter, shows him saying “idealogy” has “led us into not being profitable.”

Martinez said, “[Elon Musk] has Asperger’s ... So he’s special," terming Musk's condition as "special needs."

Notably, Martinez shared an internal message purportedly from the company’s corporate security that warns of “increased targeting of Tweeps.” The email mentions Project Veritas by name and says it is “active right now.”

Musk noted the video shared by Benny Johnson, host of the “The Benny Report” on Newsmax, and said, “Twitter exec trashing free speech & mocking people with Asperger’s.”

Last month, Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe sued Twitter in New York, alleging the social media firm falsely implicated him in operating fake accounts which led to his expulsion from the platform. 

Musk said last week that the deal to acquire Twitter is on hold over doubtful statistics about spam or fake accounts.

Price Action: On Tuesday, Twitter shares closed 2.4% higher at $38.28 in the regular session and fell 0.3% in extended trading. On the same day, Tesla shares closed 5.1% higher at $761.61 in the regular trading, according to data from Benzinga Pro. 

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