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Musk walked away from a $44-billion offer for Twitter in July saying the company misled him and regulators about the true number of spam or bot accounts on the microblogging platform.
According to a court filing on Monday, Musk has sought information from whistleblower and former head of Twitter’s security Peiter Zatko mostly about the way the microblogging site measures spam account.
A famed hacker known as “Mudge,” Zatko said in his complaint that became public last week that the company falsely claimed it had a solid security plan and prioritized user growth over reducing spam.
Following the disclosure, Musk’s legal team said allegations on certain facts, which were known to Twitter prior to July 8 but were not disclosed to them, have come to light that provide additional and distinct bases to end the deal.
The subpoena to Zatko comes in the run-up to a five-day trial at the Delaware Court of Chancery set to begin on Oct. 17.
While Musk wants to terminate the deal, Twitter is asking Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick (NYSE:MKC) to order him to buy it for the agreed $54.20 per share.
Meanwhile, an additional termination notice dated Aug. 29 was delivered in case the July 8 notice was determined to be invalid for any reason, according to a regulatory filing by Musk on Tuesday.
Twitter shares were down 2.5% at $39.02 before the bell.
