NEW YORK: Elon Musk’s lawyers have filed a fresh notice to terminate his $44 billion buyout of Twitter, citing whistle-blower testimony by the platform’s former security chief as “distinct” justification for scrapping the deal.

The termination letter, made public on Tuesday ((28th of August, 2022), argued that the allegations made by Peiter Zatko would, if true, place Twitter in violation of the initial takeover agreement.

The billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk has been locked in a bitter legal battle with the social messaging platform since announcing in July, 2022 that he was pulling the plug on his purchase of the company following a complex, volatile, months-long courtship.

The decision of Elon Musk was partially founded on the allegation that he had been misled by Twitter concerning the number of bot accounts on its platform – a charge strongly denied by the company which is suing the tycoon to compel him to go through with his buyout at the agreed price.

Peiter Zatko’s testimony in the month of August, 2022  had appeared to bolster Elon Musk’s argument, referencing “extreme, egregious” gaps in the platform’s online protections and accusing Twitter of significantly underestimating the number of fake and spam accounts.

In their new termination notice – sent to Twitter and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission – Elon Musk’s lawyers said the Peiter Zatko revelations illustrated “far-reaching misconduct” at Twitter that would likely have “severe consequences” for future business.

As such, they provide “additional and distinct bases to terminate the Merger Agreement,” the letter said.

In a written response, Twitter echoed its previous assertion that Peiter Zatko’s testimony was “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies” and rejected the argument that it was in breach of the agreement.

“Twitter intends to enforce the Agreement and close the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon,” the company said.

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