Welcome to The Deposition, a dramatic reading of the public record transcript of Elon Musk’s deposition in full. We promise: this is really real, a real thing that happened in a real lawsuit that exists in real life, word for word – with the addition of some actor editorialization.

In this episode, we enter the virtual Zoom court of law, hear Elon Musk learn what this lawsuit is about, and hear Alex Spiro get educated on how to use objections in Texas. ALLEGEDLY!

Find the full official court transcript here, courtesy of HuffPo: https://the-deposition.captivate.fm/ty-huffpo

Find the transcript for this episode here: https://the-deposition.captivate.fm/ep1-transcript

This episode is brought to you by the fantastic podcast This Is Propaganda. Find more and listen here: https://the-deposition.captivate.fm/this-is-propaganda

The Deposition is made by Hug House Productions. You can find our work at Hug House dot Productions. Our showrunner, director, and editor is Wil Williams, who also plays the Court Reporter, and also is me. Mark Bankston is played by Elena Fernández Collins. Alex Spiro is played by Anne Baird. Elon Musk is played by Josh Rubino. The videographer is played by C. N. Josephs. Mr. Grant is played by Zach Orsulak. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Justice for Ben Brody.

DISCLAIMER

This is not an official transcript of the Elon Musk deposition. You can find that here! All actor asides and editorializing have been marked with asterisks, e.g.:

*WIL*: (snickers)

These lines do not reflect any content in the court transcript; they are us, as people recording, laughing and making jokes as we read.

Shortened link to these transcripts: https://tinyurl.com/depo1-calmyourself

Intro

SFX: Cool, relaxed, sauntering warm-toned electric guitar and drums: “Less Jaunty” by Blue Dot Sessions.

WIL: Musk and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, attempted to retroactively make the deposition confidential. It was not.

WIL: Welcome to The Deposition, a dramatic reading of the public record transcript of Elon Musk’s deposition in full. We promise: this is really real, a real thing that happened in a real lawsuit that exists in real life, word for word – with the addition of some actor editorialization.

WIL: I don’t think you’ll blame us once you’ve listened.

WIL: You can find the official court transcript, the transcript for this episode, and more, in the show notes of this episode.

WIL: Enjoy . . . The Deposition.

Guest Promo

SFX: Jazzy, jaunty, syncopated piano: “Gretsch” by Blue Dot Sessions

WIL: This episode of The Desposition is brought to you by another podcast we think you’re really gonna love: This Is Propaganda is a look into how marketing is . . . propaganda! Its first season is all about how we got to where we are in marketing today, and dispelling some of the myths about what propaganda is and is not. Is “propaganda” necessarily a bad word? Here’s the trailer for This Is Propaganda. You can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, including wherever you’re listening to this right now. Highly recommended. Links in the show notes.

[TRAILER TRANSCRIPT TKTK]

Episode 1: “Do You Feel the Need to Yell Again?”

SFX: Tense, pensive string music starts: “Sweetly” by Blue Dot Sessions.

THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are on the record.

At this time will all attorneys in attendance please state their appearance and who they represent for the record, beginning with the attorney taking this deposition.

MR. BANKSTON: Mark Bankston, Farrar & Ball, representing the plaintiff, Ben Brody.

MR. SPIRO: And I guess that's then to me, Alex Spiro on behalf of Mr. Musk.

THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Will the court reporter please swear in the witness.

REPORTER: ELON MUSK, having first been duly sworn to testify the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, testified as follows:

MR. BANKSTON: Hi, Mr. Musk. Can you hear me okay?

MUSK: I can.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Do you think you did anything wrong to Ben Brody?

MR. SPIRO: Okay. This isn't a question you're allowed to ask by the Court –

*WIL*: (snickers)

MR. SPIRO: so we're not going to do this, Mark, or this deposition is going to be over before it starts.

MR. BANKSTON: I'm asking about his state of mind.

MR. SPIRO: No, no, no.

MR. BANKSTON: Yes, I am.

MR. SPIRO: No. You're not going to ask – you're not going to ask questions like that. It doesn't have –

MR. BANKSTON: I'm going to ask –

MR. SPIRO: No, you're not or you can go see the judge.

MR. BANKSTON: Let me read something for the record, all right. As you know, as the Court told you in Unsworth vs. Musk, the defendant's subsequent conduct can be relevant to his state of mind at the time of the alleged defamation.

And as they say in Warner Brothers, actual malice may be inferred from the defendant's acts, words before, at, or after the defamation.

And if he's sitting here today and he has opinions about whether he did something wrong, that is relevant to the state of mind at the time that he made the statements. Of course I can ask him do you think you committed actual malice, do you think you were reckless. Of course I can ask those questions. And, yeah, we'll go to the Court over that.

MR. SPIRO: You didn't ask if he committed actual malice. Obviously –

MR. BANKSTON: I didn't. I asked something that was very relevant to that. I'd like to get him talking about things that he did wrong --

MR. SPIRO: But that's the point. That's not what you're allowed to do in this deposition. You can't just get him talking.

*WIL*: (snickers)

*JOSH*: (sighs)

SFX: Music cuts out

*ALL*: (burst of laughter)

*ELY*: You can’t – you can’t just get someone talking in a deposition, y’all.

*ANNE*: You can’t –

*WIL*: You can’t just get someone talking in a deposition, that’s not what a deposition is for, guys.

*ANNE*: (laughter)

*ELY*: Oh my god. Okay. Amazing.

*ALL*: (clearing throats, taking breaths, preparing to go back in.)

SFX: Music resumes.

MR. BANKSTON: I disagree –

MR. SPIRO: You just showed your cards that this case is DOA and you can't just get him talking as you just put it.

So you've got four bullets –

MR. BANKSTON: Yes, I can. Alex – Alex –

MR. SPIRO: – one, two, three, and four.

MR. BANKSTON: Alex –

MR. SPIRO: You've got one, two, three and four –

MR. BANKSTON: All right. Hold on a second.

MR. SPIRO: – so if you want to ask him those bullets, you can go through those bullets and ask him.

THE REPORTER: One at a time, please.

MR. BANKSTON: Yeah, let's go ahead and take a breath, Alex. First of all, I know you're not a Texas attorney. I know you don't know Rule 199.5, right? I know you're not even pro hac in this case –

MR. SPIRO: This isn't – this isn't productive. You want to go ask another question, go ask another question. You're lecturing –

MR. BANKSTON: Are you instructing him not to answer?

MR. SPIRO: You can try to ask the question again and I'll listen to it again.

MR. BANKSTON: Are you going to instruct him not to answer?

MR. SPIRO: I don't know. I'll hear the question and tell you.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Mr. Musk, do you think you did anything wrong to Ben Brody?

MR. SPIRO: Did anything wrong to Ben Brody? Okay. You can ask that question.

MUSK: I don't know Ben Body.

MR. BANKSTON: You're aware Ben Brody is somebody who's sued you, right?

MUSK: I – I think you're the one suing.

*WIL*: (snickers)

MR. BANKSTON: Actually, Mr. Musk, I'm an attorney. Did you know that? I'm an attorney representing Mr. Brody.

MUSK: Yes, but many times I found that the actual plaintiff is the attorney.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. But that's just an assumption you're making, right? Like you don't know anything about Ben Brody?

MUSK: I don't.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. You understand Ben Brody has filed a lawsuit against you?

MUSK: I -- in my opinion, you're the one filing the lawsuit.

*ANNE*: (stifled chuckling)

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. You understand -- let's try to make this an easier way.

You understand that there's a piece of paper on which there's a lawsuit written. And at the top of the lawsuit it says Ben Brody, plaintiff, versus Elon Musk, defendant; do you understand that?

*SEVERAL*: (stifled laughter)

MUSK: I understand that but I view many cases and probably this one too that the real plaintiff is the lawyer seeking money like you.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. I'd like to know though, are you aware that there's a piece of paper that has a lawsuit on it that says Ben Brody vs. Elon Musk? That's actually what I'm wanting to know.

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay.

MUSK: Technically.

*ALL*: (burst of laughter)

*JOSH*: Jesus Christ! Hello, Mr. Thompson!

*ALL*: (cathartic post-laughter sighs)

*ELY*: Yeah when I read this bit, when I was reading the deposition when it came out, I had to lie down on the ground and just stare into the void for a little while.

*ALL*: (more laughter)

*ELY*: It’s just like –

*JOSH*: It’s painful!

*ANNE*: Yes, okay –

*ELY*: I can feel – I can feel Bankston’s, like –

*ANNE*: “What???”

*ELY*: – absolute fury –

*WIL*: Yeah.

*JOSH*: (laughs)

*ELY*: –and exasperation through the pages.

*WIL*: Disbelief.

*ANNE*: And then you know there’s like silence from Spiro at this point because he’s on mute –

*WIL*: Yeah!

*ANNE*: – because he’s got his hand over his face like, “Oh … my god.”

*ALL*: (laughter)

*JOSH*: (Musk impression) Uh, I would like thee record to show I said, “No takebacks.” Like, that’s –

*ALL*: (laughter)

*JOSH*: – that’s where we’re at.

*ELY*: Oh boy.

*WIL*: Yeah, he’s really like – his response here is really like, “No you.”

*ANNE*: (laughs)

*ELY*: “No you . . .”

*JOSH*: (Musk impression) Uh, uh, I, I, I, I am rubber. Uh, I think you’ll find.

*ELY*: You are glue? Yeah.

*WIL*: (big loud honk laugh)

*ELY*: Alright. Amazing.

*ALL*: (clearing throats, taking breaths, preparing to go back in.)

SFX: Music resumes.

MR. BANKSTON: Do you feel like you have an understanding of what that lawsuit alleges you did wrong?

MUSK: I – I have a limited understanding of that – of what the lawsuit is about.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Let's start –

MUSK: My – what I want to think it's really about is about you getting a lot of money.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. All right. Let's start with the incident that this lawsuit is based on. You understand that this case involves a brawl in Oregon between some right-wing extremists?

MUSK: I -- I don't know much about -- you're referring to a handful of posts on the X platform?

MR. SPIRO: I don't know if that's the subject matter of the lawsuit. I think the subject matter of the --

MR. BANKSTON: A subject matter of the lawsuit. And, Mr. Spiro, again, your objections to questions in an oral deposition under Rule 195 are limited to objection; leading and objection; form, or objection; nonresponsive. Those objections are waived if not stated as phrased. All other objections need not be made or recorded during the oral deposition to be raised to the Court. You must not give any suggestive or argumentative or any explanations during the deposition.

MR. SPIRO: Well, then don't say things that are misleading and I won't --

MR. BANKSTON: No. That's not -- that's why you should object to the form of the question.

MR. SPIRO: No, no, it's not –

MR. BANKSTON: That's misleading. Mr. Spiro, you know -- Mr. Spiro --

MR. SPIRO: Listen, if you want to go back and forth with me and waste your time, you can. Go on to your next question.

MR. BANKSTON: Oh, we're going to get more time if you keep doing this.

MR. SPIRO: No, you're not. No, you're not. Go to the judge --

MR. BANKSTON: You're violating Rule 199, you're not even pro hac admitted.

MR. SPIRO: Okay. Okay. You're just giving speeches that nobody's listening to but you. You're just doing them for yourself.

*WIL*: (muffled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: Oh, they're for the record. Mr. Spiro, they're for the Court to listen to.

MR. SPIRO: Okay. So keep --

MR. BANKSTON: And I would appreciate it – I'm going to give you an instruction. I would appreciate it if you would abide by Rule 199.5 of the Texas Rules --

MR. SPIRO: I heard you the first three times.

MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro, please do not interrupt me.

MR. SPIRO: I heard you the first three times.

MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro, please do not interrupt me. I'm asking you on the record to obey Rule 199.5. If you continue to violate Rule 199.5, I will move for sanctions against you. So I please ask you to obey the rules in the remainder of this deposition.

SFX: Music cuts out.

*ANNE*: (whispered) No. :)

*ALL*: (burst of laughter)

(EXHIBIT 1 ENTERED INTO THE RECORD)

*ELY*: That’s not in the record!

*ANNE*: Off – off the record: “No. :)”

*ELY*: Yeah. Oh boy.

*ALL*: (clearing throats, taking breaths, preparing to go back in.)

SFX: Music resumes.

SFX: Mouse click

MR. BANKSTON: We're going to mark this as Exhibit 1. Mr. Musk, this is a meme that you shared about psyops, correct?

MUSK: Yes. It's a joke.

MR. BANKSTON: A psyop is a psychological operation, right?

MUSK: It's -- yes, I believe that is what it refers to, yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And this meme jokes that there are almost daily psyops –

MR. SPIRO: I am going to interrupt again, and I don't really care that rule that you keep reading because it has nothing to do with --

MR. BANKSTON: I know you don't --

MR. SPIRO: Good. The Court –

MUSK: -- to the judge.

MR. SPIRO: How is this relevant to the court order?

MR. BANKSTON: Because I'm getting to --

MR. SPIRO: This isn't a regular deposition–

TKTK

MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro --

MR. SPIRO: Now I'm talking so don't interrupt me. How is -- this is a deposition governed by a limited court order –

MR. BANKSTON: Correct.

MR. SPIRO: -- because he gave you a limited court order on this case, so I have every right to ask and to stop -- I'm not going to just let you do two hours about Mr. Musk's upbringing.

How is this tweet that is nothing -- that is not a tweet in this case, how is this relevant under the Court's order?

MR. BANKSTON: This is very much -- Mr. Spiro, I don't know if you were listening to me. This is what he posted on the day of the brawl, and this case is about whether this brawl was being accused to be a psyop. This is absolutely relevant to his state of mind on -- when he calls this brawl a psyop.

I'm really -- Mr. Spiro, I really have to ask you to please get yourself up to speed on the facts of this case. I'm definitely going to ask him –

MR. SPIRO: Again, this isn't a real -- you keep lecturing me like get up to speed on the facts of this case. This isn't like a real case. This is just some stupid –

*WIL*: (snort laughs)

*ALL*: (bursts of laughter)

*ELY*: Mmhm.

*ANNE*: What even is this man!

*JOSH*: Uh, your honor, my client is rich? Uh . . .

*ELY*: Oh yeah.

*ANNE*: Oh yeah – Uh, your honor, my client is Elon Fucking Musk?

*ELY*: Musk.

*ANNE*: So . . .

*WIL*: (sighs gravely)

*ALL*: (clearing throats, taking breaths, preparing to go back in.)

SFX: Music resumes.

MR. SPIRO: This isn't like a real case. This is just some stupid –

MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro.

MR. SPIRO: Yeah, so --

MR. BANKSTON: Lawyers do not -- it is not in accordance with the lawyer's creed to just start making random statements about the alleged frivolity of a case to another lawyer in a deposition. You know that's not proper. You know that.

MR. SPIRO: Do you give these lectures at all of your depositions?

MR. BANKSTON: I do and you can watch them.

MR. SPIRO: In any event, this is not – this is not a tweet that's alleged -- if you're alleging that this tweet is directly related to the brawl, ask --

MR. BANKSTON: That's what I'm asking him, Mr. Spiro.

MR. SPIRO: Oh, okay. Is there some code in Texas that you don't yell and raise your voice in depositions?

MUSK: Why are you yelling? Calm yourself.

MR. SPIRO: Yeah, why are you yelling?

MUSK: Calm yourself. Calm yourself.

MR. BANKSTON: I'm very, very disturbed by what you're doing.

MUSK: You're yelling at everyone.

MR. BANKSTON: I'm very disturbed that you're instructing the witness --

MUSK: I mean, show some decorum.

*SEVERAL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. SPIRO: I'm not instructing the witness. I'm not instructing the question. Ask your question.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Now that I've got you up to speed, I can ask my question?

MR. SPIRO: Yeah, I asked you for the relevance of how this relates to the court order. You gave me an answer. I'm not preventing him from answering, so ask your question.

MR. BANKSTON: All right. Let's keep moving.

Mr. Musk, this meme -- the question that I had, was this meme jokes that there are almost daily psyops, correct?

MUSK: This is a joke about psyops.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. But psyops for you are not always a laughing matter, right?

MUSK: I mean, I don't -- I don't think there are actually daily psyops. This is –

MR. BANKSTON: No, I get that. I understand –

MUSK: -- a tin foil hat –

MR. BANKSTON: Right. I get this is a joke. I understand that.

MUSK: It's a joke obviously --

MR. BANKSTON: What I'm asking though --

MUSK: -- if somebody puts -- may I finish?

MR. BANKSTON: Sure.

MUSK: Do you feel you need to yell again?

*JOSH*: (just barely makes it through the line before laughing)

MR. BANKSTON: I might.

SFX: Music drops out.

*JOSH*: Sorry!

*ALL*: (laughter)

*JOSH*: Let me just try that one more time.

*ELY*: Uh-huh.

SFX: Music resumes.

MUSK: Do you feel you need to yell again?

MR. BANKSTON: I might.

MUSK: Yeah. I've rarely met a lawyer with less decorum than you, if you could be called a lawyer. So this is a joke. Obviously --

MR. BANKSTON: Right.

MUSK: -- this is just a kitten with a tin foil hat.

MR. BANKSTON: Uh-huh.

MUSK: And, in fact, it is making fun of the fact that there are -- people claim psyops when often there is not a psyop.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. But what I want to ask you about is for you, this is a joke, but there are other times in which for you, psyops are not a joke?

MUSK: I think the vast majority of time people think there's a psyop and there is not a psyop.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. That's -- okay.

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: But let's talk about – let's talk about that tin foil hat for a second. I want to try to get to the symbolism of that, all right?

And if I'm -- tell me if I'm summarizing this joke correctly: That the idea of something being a psyop might be -- sound a little crazy, but sometimes you see evidence or facts that make you think there is a psyop. And, wow, that makes you want to put on a tin foil hat like the conspiracy people do. That's kind of the joke there? Am I interpreting that correctly?

MUSK: No.

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. So let me pull it back a little bit.

Would you agree with me that the idea that any given event is a psyop is something that is improbable but not impossible?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Do you remember just a couple of weeks before this meme in the -- when the Allen, Texas, neo-Nazi shooting happened, about you using the term "psyop" for that event?

MR. SPIRO: I'm -- I think this is outside the court order, so I'm not going to allow you to answer this question. You can keep going.

MR. BANKSTON: So you're going to instruct him not to answer it?

MR. SPIRO: You heard me the first time.

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: I didn't -- I'm not sure what that meant actually.

MR. SPIRO: He's -- he's not answering that question. You're on I think what the judge -- the judge would maybe let you ask some of the questions you're asking, maybe. There's no chance in my view that the judge would have let you go back two weeks to some other incident. I don't think that's what the judge intended.

MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro, I just need your instruction. I don't need your comments.

MR. SPIRO: Yeah, I gave my instruction and then you started talking so I'm responding.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. All I said is --

MR. SPIRO: And I'll make whatever record I want to make, okay?

MR. BANKSTON: Please do. Mr. Musk, are you going to obey -- you're going to abide by your counsel's instruction not to answer that question?

MUSK: It sounds like it's outside the judge's instructions.

MR. BANKSTON: So "yes"?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. A false flag, that's a type of psyop?

MUSK: I'm no expert on psyops, but, yes, that would be a type of psyop I believe.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Now, a false flag, for people who may not understand that term, that's a form of deception, right?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: In other words, a false flag requires dishonesty, you're falsely portraying something?

MUSK: I believe it's in the name. If it's not a true flag, it would be a false flag.

MR. BANKSTON: Correct. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Musk. Let's talk a little bit about your tweets about the brawl.

So, okay, as far as what your understanding of this suit is, do you understand that this lawsuit takes issue with a tweet that you posted on June 27th?

MUSK: I don't quote exactly, but that sounds correct.

MR. BANKSTON: Can I ask you, have you read the lawsuit?

MUSK: I've read a summary of the lawsuit.

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: A summary of the lawsuit?

MUSK: Yes.

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. All right. Let's see what we can do here. You do understand that on the previous two dates, June 25th and June 26th, you interacted with two tweets about one of the unmasked brawlers in that brawl?

MUSK: That is -- that is what I have read in the lawsuit, yeah.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. We're going to talk about those tweets, but first I want to verify: You were ordered to answer some discovery, and it appears from your answers that before your tweet on June 27th, you did not do any searches on Twitter or any web searches like on a search engine for information about the identity of this unmasked brawler; is that correct?

MUSK: That's correct.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. Would it be fair for me to say that other than the tweets that you interacted with, you did not secure other information about this unmasked brawler?

MUSK: I don't recall securing other information.

MR. BANKSTON: In other words, you didn't get any information by text or email or any other sort of communication with anybody else about the brawler?

MUSK: I don't recall. Not that I -- not that I recall, no.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And did you ask anybody to go get you – let me start that again.

Did you ask anyone to go get you any information on this unmasked brawler?

MUSK: No.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. So it'd be fair to say that the information that you acquired about the brawler was from the tweets that you interacted with?

MUSK: Correct.

(EXHIBIT 2 ENTERED INTO THE RECORD)

SFX: Computer mouse click

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. I want to talk about those tweets right now. So we're going to pull up Tab B and we'll mark this as Exhibit 2.

All right. Mr. Musk, on your screen, are you able to read that or do I need to zoom in a little bit?

MUSK: It's small, but I'm able to read it.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. So you'll see -- I'm going to kind of go through it and we'll go through it tweet by tweet so that we can read it together. You'll see the first is a post from a suspended account so we can't see it, right?

MUSK: Correct.

MR. BANKSTON: And then the second is your tweet and you asked who were the unmasked individuals, right?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: And then an account called AcceptDoge tells you -- and I think there's a typo, but it's "here's one of them"?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Does that look right to you?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And then there's a tweet from a Dr. Frensor, and it says, "OMFG, they are so busted. A member of Patriot Front is actually a political science student at a liberal school on a career path towards the feds"; do you see that?

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And then you'll see that there are two images from the brawl in Portland that day along with two screenshots from Ben Brody's social media information. Do you see their pictures of Ben Brody and the information about him?

MUSK: You need to zoom in, I think.

MR. BANKSTON: J., can you zoom in on the part there with the Ben Brody pictures?

SFX: (mouse scroll wheel)

MUSK: Yeah, I see it.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. So you now see that we have pictures from the brawl as well as pictures showing and describing Ben Brody, correct?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And then scroll down, your response to that we have -- it just says, "very odd," correct?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. This was the first time you became aware of this allegation about Ben Brody?

MUSK: I think so.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. On the quote tweet of Dr. Frensor -- can you scroll up just a little bit?

SFX: (mouse scroll wheel)

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. On this quote tweet, do you see how it says -- we can see that it's part of a thread because it says, "Replying to Dr. Frensor." Do you see where that is?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And then do you see below the text it says "Show more," right?

MUSK: Yes.

MR. BANKSTON: Do you know if you clicked on the Dr. Frensor tweet and read any of the other tweets in that thread?

MUSK: I -- I don't recall doing so.

MR. BANKSTON: And do you know if you clicked on Dr. Frensor's profile to bring up their timeline and bio?

MUSK: Not that I recall.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. And if you didn't do that, there was no way for you to assess this person's credibility, right?

MUSK: I wasn't trying to assess their credibility.

MR. BANKSTON: I'm not asking if you were trying to. I actually don't think you were at all. But I'm asking you, the only method that you had in front of you right here to assess credibility to learn anything about this person was to click on their profile, right? There was no information about them in this tweet?

MUSK: I don't think clicking on someone's profile is an effective way of assessing their credibility.

MR. BANKSTON: Well, couldn't you click on their profile and take a quick look at their timeline and see if the things that they had been saying were things that might give red flags about reliability? Isn't that something you could do?

MUSK: Possibly, and that's sort of not a very reliable way.

MR. BANKSTON: Sure. But I'm asking that is something you could do. If, for instance, let's say you clicked on Dr. Frensor's account and you saw that they were tweeting a bunch of really wacky, obviously false things. That might give someone pause about whether this person was reliable, correct?

MUSK: Yeah, you'd say that perhaps that would affect things.

MR. BANKSTON: Do you know --

MUSK: It is possible for people who are -- nobody's right all the time. Nobody's wrong all the time --

MR. BANKSTON: Sure.

MUSK: -- so it's possible for some people to -- you know, like once in a while, a conspiracy theorist is going to be right.

MR. BANKSTON: Yeah, yeah, somebody who's really, really unreliable most of the time could be right some of the time, right?

MUSK: Yes. And people who are -- and people who are reliable, could be wrong some of the time.

*WIL*: (stifled laughter)

MR. BANKSTON: And so, in other words, somebody who's unreliable, if you did some homework and checking, you might actually discover, hey, this unreliable person is correct, right?

MR. SPIRO: Objection to form.

MUSK: I think everyone is wrong to some degree and everyone is right -- usually right to some degree.

MR. BANKSTON: (BY MR. BANKSTON) Do you know –

MR. SPIRO: Mark, Mark, you've got to let him answer the questions. You're cutting him off at the end of every -- every answer.

MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Musk, do you have anything else you want to add?

MUSK: I was saying that even if somebody is wrong most of the time, they will still be right some of the time, and if somebody is right most of the time, they will be wrong some of the time.

MR. BANKSTON: (BY MR. BANKSTON) Agreed. Do you know if you saw any other tweets from Dr. Frensor that day or in the few days before that?

MUSK: I don't know Dr. Frensor or that account.

MR. BANKSTON: Do you -- I'm saying so you don't know if you saw tweets from them or not either that day or in the days prior?

MUSK: I don't think I did.

MR. BANKSTON: Okay. I mean, I'm asking you have you -- do you know? Did you go and check, do you know, or is that still an open question?

MUSK: I don't -- I don't recall looking at Dr. Frensor's account.

MR. BANKSTON: There is a possibility you have seen tweets from Dr. Frensor before?

MUSK: It's possible, yeah.

Outro

SFX: Cool, relaxed, sauntering warm-toned electric guitar and drums: “Less Jaunty” by Blue Dot Sessions.

WIL: The Deposition is made by Hug House Productions. You can find our work at Hug House dot Productions. Our showrunner, director, and editor is Wil Williams, who also plays the Court Reporter, and also is me. Sam Bankston is played by Elena Fernández Collins. Alex Spiro is played by Anne Baird. Elon Musk is played by Josh Rubino. The videographer is played by C. N. Josephs. Mr. Grant is played by Zach Orsulak. Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Justice for Ben Brody.

WIL: Please don’t sue us.