Elon Musk’s bid to reveal the contents of the countersuit he filed against Twitter last week was rejected by the judge overseeing the bombshell case on Wednesday.
Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled that Musk’s counterclaims, answer and affirmative defense to the Twitter lawsuit will be made public by Friday afternoon, according to court filings.
The ruling handed Twitter a victory in the first of what are likely to be many fights after the social media site had argued that the release of the documents on Wednesday could expose “confidential” business information, The Post has learned.
The dispute centers around the 164-page counterclaim that Musk filed against Twitter last Friday. The lawsuit represents an escalation in the battle over the Tesla CEO’s abandoned $44 billion deal to buy Twitter.
Companies are often allowed to redact material from legal documents that could reveal confidential information about their business — and Twitter argued that it needs more time to see “what information is in [Musk’s] files, if any, to be designated as confidential.”
Musk’s legal team claimed that Twitter engaged in a stalling tactic to get ahead of the story in print. They said in their counter-affidavit on Wednesday that Twitter is expected to file its response to Musk’s lawsuit on Thursday — and that Twitter’s response to Musk’s countersuit may be available to the public before Musk’s countersuit itself, giving unfairly giving the company a step up in media coverage.
“Twitter should not be allowed to continue to bury the side of the story it does not want to be revealed publicly,” Musk’s attorney Edward Micheletti wrote in a letter to McCormick.
Micheletti added that Twitter was trying to change court rules to “respond to the defendants’ side of the story in public before the defendants’ story could be told.”
Musk’s side believes Twitter should not seek any redaction of the counterclaim because none of its content “meets the standards for sealing,” according to emails between the two sides released as court exhibits Wednesday.
Under court rules, Musk’s counterclaim and Twitter’s response must be available to the public by Friday at the latest — potentially in redacted form.
Shares of Twitter closed up 0.1% at $41.00 on Wednesday.
The stock is up about 26% since the company sued Musk on July 12 in an attempt to force him to honor his agreement to take over Twitter for $54.20 a share, showing that investors are increasingly comfortable with Twitter’s chances in the legal battle.
Ahead of the trial, which is set to open on October 17, Musk and Twitter have both served subpoenas in an attempt to gather evidence to bolster their cases.
Musk has called Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, two banks that advised Twitter on Musk’s takeover bid, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
Twitter, meanwhile, has called several members of Musk’s Silicon Valley social circle, including elite tech investors Marc Andreessen, Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, Steve Jurvetson, Jason Calacanis, Keith Rabois and Joe Lonsdale, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Lonsdale blasted Twitter’s calls as a “giant bully fishing expedition” in a tweet on Monday.
“I have nothing to do with it other than a few odd comments, but I got a document notification saying ‘YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED,'” Lonsdale said.
