Elon Musk is pleading with a federal judge to move a shareholder lawsuit out of California and into Texas based on claims negative local media coverage has tainted the jury against him. The trial is set to begin on Jan. 17, with Musk’s lawyers requesting the trial be delayed until negative coverage of his Twitter deal dies down if the judge denies his plea. Musk’s lawyers argue that “a substantial portion of the jury pool” will have an ax to grind after Musk laid off more than 1,000 San Francisco-area residents in recent months. The lawsuit originated from a Musk tweet—what else?—with the Tesla CEO saying in 2018 that he had enough financing to take the company private at $420 a share, causing extreme fluctuations in Tesla’s stock.