Elon Musk’s legal team is demanding to hear from Twitter’s whistleblowing former security chief, who could help bolster Mr Musk’s case for backing out of a 44 billion US dollar (£37 billion) deal to buy the social media company.

Former Twitter executive Peiter Zatko, also known by his hacker handle “Mudge”, received a subpoena on Saturday from Mr Musk’s team, according to Mr Zatko’s lawyer and court records.

Billionaire Tesla chief executive Mr Musk has spent months alleging that the company he agreed to acquire undercounted its fake and spam accounts – and that he should not have to consummate the deal as a result.

Mr Zatko’s whistleblower complaint to US officials alleging Twitter misled regulators about its privacy and security protections – and its ability to detect and root out fake accounts – might play into Mr Musk’s hands in an upcoming trial scheduled for October 17 in Delaware.

Mr Zatko served as Twitter’s head of security until he was sacked early this year.