Tesla “whistleblower’s” lawyer opens up about Martin Tripp’s sudden Twitter departure

Less than a day after posting images supposedly supporting his case against Tesla, alleged saboteur and self-proclaimed “whistleblower” Martin Tripp has opted to leave Twitter. Tripp’s departure from the social media platform comes amid the aftermath of his posts yesterday, which allegedly depicted flawed battery packs that Tesla installed on some Model 3.

Apart from photos taken inside Gigafactory 1, Tripp also released a list of Model 3 VINs which he claimed were equipped with damaged battery packs. The former employee shared screenshots of emails he sent to Elon Musk about Tesla’s operations as well. These images were quickly picked up by several media outlets.

Unfortunately for Tripp, his account was slapped with a 12-hour suspension by Twitter, due to one of his tweets containing an email address listing Elon Musk’s name. In a statement to Gizmodo, Tripp noted that Twitter warned him that he “may not publish or post other people’s private information without their express authorization and permission.”

Stuart D. Meissner, Tripp’s lawyer in his countersuit against Tesla, also contacted Linette Lopez, one of the reporters who covered the former Tesla employee’s tweets. It was not long before Martin Tripp opted to depart from Twitter completely.

I would like to speak to you.

— Stuart D. Meissner (@StuartMeissner) August 16, 2018

In a series of recent tweets, Meissner announced that Tripp decided to take down his Twitter page on his advice. The lawyer also denied reports that Tripp’s Twitter account was suspended earlier today. Meissner maintained that Tripp’s departure from the social media platform was voluntary, so that there will not be any more confusion about his case against Tesla. Furthermore, the lawyer also claimed that a number of his client’s social media pages were hacked.

Following are Meissner’s updates explaining why Tripp opted to leave Twitter. 

B advised that the Tweets by Mr. Tripp yesterday were issued by him on his own accord. Mr. Tripp has clearly been impacted emotionally by what $TSLA has done to him.He is very concerned about being gagged & wants to protect the public, more than his own personal interest. ++

— Stuart D. Meissner (@StuartMeissner) August 16, 2018

Also Mr. Tripp’s Twitter account WAS NOT suspended/removed by twitter this AM. He himself voluntarily terminated his twitter account on advice of myself, so that there will not b any more confusion re if he has published anything or not. There is enough confusion re $TSLA already

— Stuart D. Meissner (@StuartMeissner) August 16, 2018

Mr. Tripp’s Linked-in Account was hacked last week. I understand his Facebook account and Drop Box account as well. As a result, along with yesterday, he has determined upon my advice to Terminate his Twitter Account. I think the concern will become clearer as the day goes on.

— Stuart D. Meissner (@StuartMeissner) August 16, 2018

Martin Tripp, a former Tesla engineer working at Gigafactory 1, was accused by the electric car maker of sabotage last June. A lawsuit filed by the company against Tripp alleged that the former employee hacked into Tesla’s Manufacturing Operating System, sent confidential data to external sources, and misreported to the media. Among Tripp’s contacts in the press was Business Insider reporter Linette Lopez, who, in turn, published a number of articles based on information provided by the former Tesla engineer. Lopez confirmed this when she was featured in a segment at CNBC’s Halftime Report last month.

Interestingly, Lopez’s comment on CNBC was a bit different from Tripp’s statement immediately after he received a lawsuit from Tesla. Tripp claimed to CNN Money that he contacted several media outlets about his allegations against the company, and that he had spoken at length with one of them, but the news outlet was yet to do a story about his revelations. During this time, Lopez had already published articles that included information seemingly provided by Tripp.

Tesla, for its part, has denied Tripp’s claims. In response to the release of Model 3 VINs that were allegedly equipped with damaged battery packs, the electric car maker was firm in the notion that the former Tesla engineer’s allegations were false.

“As we’ve said before, these claims are false, and Mr. Tripp does not even have personal knowledge about the safety claims that he is making. No punctured cells have ever been used in any Model 3 vehicles in any way, and all VINs that have been identified have safe batteries. Notably, there have been zero battery safety issues in any Model 3.”