Hellooo, hellooo....is anybody home?

From your post: You say it was "intentionally deceitful." In my opinion you are correct. But he gave us important info that the board was overlooking for over a week.

Also: we needed his message

I ask: WHY?? Personally, I've dealt with as many lies in my lifetime as I care to hear and in this case, this lie served no purpose other than to damage the stock in the eyes of any possible buyers.