Exclusive: Whitney Tilson Says There Is Nothing Wrong With Short Sellers Communicating With Each Other

on Monday said in a

that Sunday's 60 Minutes segment that featured the company negatively was driven by a "small group of short-selling investors who are working together for the purpose of making money by lowering our stock. Speaking to Benzinga on Monday via e-mail, Whitney Tilson – a short seller who was featured in the 60 Minutes segment said that there is "nothing wrong" with short sellers communicating with each other and sharing information and investors talk to one another every day. Tilson also took the opportunity to clarify his communications with other parties featured in the 60 Minutes' piece on Lumber Liquidators. "But in this case, I've never had any communication whatsoever with the lawyer and environmentalist that appeared in this segment, nor with the short sellers who are apparently backing them," Tilson wrote in an e-mail. "I'm almost embarrassed to admit that 60 Minutes found them, as I was only vaguely aware of their existence." Tilson added that the 60 Minutes segment can be used as a "case study" of how hedge funds, however self-interested their motivations can be, are a "force for good." The investment manager continued that hedge funds often do the "difficult and expensive work" to uncover companies engaged in "nefarious things (such as poisoning their own customers)" – and then bringing this information to the attention of regulators, prosecutors and the media.