Thread by Montana Skeptic @MontanaSkeptic@masto.ai
Thread
1/ Okay. Let's discuss. Tesla complains that the article is "biased and misleading." But it makes no claim of inaccuracy.
Musk & $TSLA simply DETEST @russ1mitchell for being one of the few journalists who, from a long way back, have understood exactly who Musk is.
Musk & $TSLA simply DETEST @russ1mitchell for being one of the few journalists who, from a long way back, have understood exactly who Musk is.
2/ Others include @lopezlinette & @CGrantWSJ & @RMac18 & @faizsays & several others, but especially, with highest honors, @Tweetermeyer.
3/ Notice who's on the attack here. @Tesla. But, wait, wasn't this a case against @elonmusk? So, why is $tsla so eager to defend him?
Did the Board of Directors approve of Musk using the company for personal use? (OK, that was a joke, almost as big a joke as the Tesla BofD.)
Did the Board of Directors approve of Musk using the company for personal use? (OK, that was a joke, almost as big a joke as the Tesla BofD.)
4/ Actually, Elon drafted some of his "hardcore litigators" at Tesla (employed by Tesla, paid by Tesla) to join the outside counsel defending Randeep's defamation suit.
Who would wager that the Tesla Board knew? Or, if they knew, would have lifted a finger to stop it?
Who would wager that the Tesla Board knew? Or, if they knew, would have lifted a finger to stop it?
5/ So, now Randeep & his tiny legal team had arrayed against it both outside counsel and the entire Tesla legal department. Accusations aplenty (some day soon I may publish some of the nastygrams from the lawyers who have debased themselves forever by working for Tesla).
6/ The overwhelming question in the lawsuit was, "Did Randeep Hothi ever "harass" or "almost kill" "Tesla employees"? Hey, the answer should be easy: let's review the recordings.
7/ Naturally, Tesla & Musk did their all to make sure the case wasn't about whether what Musk said was true. Rather, they said, it was about other things. Starting with the fearless @AaronGreenspan & his company that owns @PlainSite.
8/ Aaron had the email exchange with Musk during which Musk made his reckless accusations. It is crystal clear from the context of the entire conversation that Aaron was deeply skeptical of Musk.
9/ What did Musk do? File a lawsuit against Aaron and his company, saying *they* had failed to conduct a reasonable investigation before publishing the email exchange. Think about that a minute. What would be the optimal "reasonable investigation"?
10/ Obviously, viewing the un-edited, un-audio-suppressed, complete recordings of the incidents in question. But, Musk did not let us have them. His excuse: that he did not *himself* review them before making his accusations.
11/ Now, just think some more about that: Musk accused Greenspan of failing to conduct the reasonable investigation that Musk never conducted. Worse, Musk used his failure as a defense in Randeep's lawsuit.
12/ So, Aaron Greenspan became collateral damage in Randeep's lawsuit. Aaron was forced to defend himself despite having limited resources. On top of that, Musk, in his suit against Aaron made accusations that Aaron vehemently insists were false and libelous.
13/ So, Aaron gets put to great expense and gets smeared in the process. And because the accusations are made in legal pleadings, they are privileged (though there are exceptions, as Aaron may perhaps be tempted to remind Elon).
14/ The collateral damage didn't stop there. Several of Randeep's former employers and correspondents were subpoenaed. As well as his partner. (Also, me, about which more later.) And it didn't stop there...
15/ Musk's "hardcore litigators" (eternal shame on them) insisted Randeep could not redact identities of scores of people with whom he corresponded about Tesla, even though that correspondence had NOTHING to do with whether Randeep did or did not "harass" or "almost kill" anyone.
16/ For icing on the cake, the hardcore crew (again, eternal shame) claimed I was a material fact witness, and threatened to attempt to disqualify me. The theory: that I helped Randeep defend against Tesla's 2019 case, and bring his defamation case, because I wanted to profit...
17/ ...from a Tesla short position. Utter, total bullshit. I had no expectation of any profit. I performed every bit of work on both cases completely free of charge. Did not even get reimbursed for out of pocket expenses.
18/ And, I had no short TSLA position during the entire pendency of the defamation lawsuit.
19/ Another sad fact: Musk is the richest man in the Universe (okay, sometimes number one, sometimes number two). So, we knew we faced not only a man with infinite wealth, but one willing to draft his company's legal department into the battle.
20/ (You good with that, Tesla shareholders?) Finally, our funds ran out, despite the immense generosity of so many wonderful TSLAQ skeptics who donated to the cause.
21/ Elon made his offer. Yes, Elon, you *offered* to settle. For money that is real to Randeep, even if not to you. Yes, for Musk, it was in part a strategic maneuver. If Randeep recovered less at trial (not "lost the case" as Tesla inaccurately says), then...
22/ ...Randeep would be potentially liable for Musk's "costs" (filing fees, court reporter fees) and expert witness costs. Those could easily run to several hundred thousand dollars. Enough to put Randeep (who is of modest means) in a deep financial hole for decades to come.
23/ And, on top of that, there was a damages problem. Randeep found that potential employers were *impressed* that he did such amazing research & stood up against Elon. And academia offered him a wonderful opportunity, too.
24/ In other words, Elon's accusations helped instead of hurt. (Thanks in no part to what a complete jerk Elon has revealed himself to be.) So, there was a possibility a jury would rule that Elon defamed Randeep, but would award damages of less than the $10k Elon offered.
25/ Elon had, after all, said he would never offer *anything* if the case were unjust. His offer is, by his own words, an acknowledgement that this case was just. 
26/ So, Randeep did something Elon could *never* do. He put aside his ego. Recognized that on Musk's own terms he had triumphed. And decided to prevent more collateral damage from a man who appears to be utterly devoid of even a shred of empathy or humanity.
27/ Well done, Randeep. Proud to be your friend.
28/ As for all those "hardcore litigators" at Tesla, may I suggest you focus your efforts on the massive scam of "full self-driving" and the growing pile of personal injury (and death) lawsuits resulting from the shoddy garbage turned out by the "alien dreadnought" factories.
29/ Or, maybe, help Elon determine when and by how much to next cut prices for Tesla cars. Because more price cuts are definitely going to be needed.
30/ In other words, as Randeep has said, Elon is a clown, and more and more people see he's a clown, and we should all just stand back and let him continue to beclown himself.
31/ A further note. @nytimes reported that Twitter would have discounted the purchase price by a billion or two if Elon and his genius trial lawyer had not spit in their face. Just that is so much more costly to Elon than anything Randeep could ever have done.
32/ Oh, Elon, what a great genius you are.
33/ Oh, I forgot. The threats against me and Randeep. Hardcore litigator Allison said Musk was going to sue us for malicious prosecution. For what, Allison? Because we defended against the Tesla and Elon slime?
34/ Now, hardcore litigator Allison demands that I destroy all the "confidential" material Elon produced (Elon produced precious little, and marked all or almost all of it "confidential"). But, wait. Earlier, she accused me of destroying evidence.
35/ Hey, Allison, I'm hanging on to what little your client (oops, I mean your boss) produced until you either drop your idiotic malicious prosecution threat or a court tells me I need to give it back.
