Elon Musk is trying to get his Twitter trial delayed again, reports say

Elon Musk.

Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

• Twitter is suing Elon Musk and the trial is scheduled for October 17.
• Musk's team asked to delay the trial following an explosive whistleblower complaint.
• Musk's lawyers have already subpoenaed the whistleblower, who is Twitter's ex-head of cybersecurity.

Elon Musk is pushing to delay the date of his trial with Twitter citing an explosive whistleblower complaint from the company's former head of cybersecurity.

Musk is in the middle of a legal battle with Twitter over his attempt to walk away from a $44 billion deal he made to buy the company. Twitter sued Musk to try and force him to go through with the deal at the agreed price.

CNN and Reuters reported Musk's legal team submitted a filing Monday to ask for a delay on the trial date for his legal battle. The trial is currently scheduled for October 17, but Musk's team has asked for a new date in November.

Musk's team already tried once to get the trial pushed back before the October 17 date was set, but the judge ruled that delaying the trial could do "irreparable harm" to Twitter, given the uncertainty created by the legal fight.

Originally Musk's case for walking away from the deal rested on a claim that Twitter has more bots on it than the company had previously disclosed. Twitter's lawyers argued this professed concern about bot numbers was a smokescreen, and accused Musk of trying to get out of the deal because his personal wealth had shrunk.

Last week a whistleblower complaint from Twitter's former head of cybersecurity Peiter Zatko, also known by his hacker name "Mudge," became public.

The wide-ranging complaint accused Twitter of lax security practices, and specifically said Twitter lied to Musk about how it measures the proportion of accounts that are bots. 

Zatko said in his complaint Twitter executives were not incentivized to accurately tally the number of bots on the platform, saying: "Deliberate ignorance was the norm."

Twitter in a letter Tuesday said that Zatko's allegations are "riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies."

Although legal experts told Insider Zatko's complaint is unlikely to be a silver bullet for Musk in his fight with Twitter, the billionaire's legal team appears to be using it to launch a fresh offensive.

Musk's lawyers served Twitter with a fresh notice of termination on Monday saying if Musk's original argument about bots is "determined to be invalid for any reason" then Zatko's disclosure gives new reasons why Musk can legitimately sever himself from the deal.

Musk's legal team also served Zatko with a subpoena and Zatko is due to be deposed for the case on September 9.

A spokesperson for Twitter told Insider: "We remain committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk. We have not breached any of our representations or obligations under the Agreement."

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