TASER's Most Tumultuous Year: SEC Investigation, Internal Mole, and Patent Battle

The Tumultuous Year of 2005

• 🚨 TASER International faced its most stressful year in 2005, marked by a series of coordinated negative press campaigns and an SEC investigation that began on Christmas Eve 2004.
• 📰 Negative stories from CBS and the New York Times, particularly by Alex Baronson, alleged stock fraud and questioned the safety of TASER devices.
• 📉 The company's stock price rapidly cratered from $33 to $7 per share, causing panic among customers and leading to canceled orders.

Internal Betrayal and Mole Discovery

• 🕵️‍♂️ An internal mole was suspected after the SEC inquiry was leaked to the Arizona Republic and a New York Times article quoted an internal purchase order (PO) with an altered note, "Hope this helps."
• 🔍 A private investigation firm identified the mole as the CEO's personal assistant, who had access to sensitive company information and was found to have fabricated a cancer diagnosis.
• ⚠️ This betrayal highlighted the vulnerability of even small companies to insider threats and the sophisticated tactics used by short sellers.

Patent Attorney's Extortion and Resolution

• ⚖️ Amidst the crisis, TASER's own patent attorney attempted to claim inventorship of the crucial X26 patent and demanded $10 million, effectively trying to blackmail the company.
• 🚫 The company's board, advised by the CEO, refused to settle, believing it was the **