Search warrant obtained to have Twitter hand over info on Trump's account
Elon Musk recently purchased Twitter - now called X - was fined $350,000 for missing the compliance deadline related to a search warrant for records related to former President Donald Trump's Twitter account.
Special counsel Jack Smith's team obtained a search warrant in January for records related to former President Donald Trump's account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. A judge imposed a $350,000 fine on Twitter for missing the compliance deadline. The court rejected Twitter's claim of not being held in contempt.
The warrant was related to investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Twitter objected to a nondisclosure agreement and argued it violated its First Amendment rights.
Twitter objected to the nondisclosure agreement, saying that it would not produce any of the account information (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)Prosecutors obtained the search warrant on January 17 directing Twitter to produce information on Trump’s account after a court “found probable cause to search the account for evidence of criminal offenses,” according to the ruling. The government also obtained a nondisclosure agreement that had prohibited Twitter from disclosing the search warrant, the filing says.
The court found that disclosing the warrant could risk that Trump could jeopardize the ongoing investigation by giving him “an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior” or notify his allies, the filing says.
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Twitter objected to the nondisclosure agreement, saying four days after the compliance deadline that it would not produce any of the account information, according to the ruling. The judge wrote that Twitter “did not question the validity of the search warrant” but argued that the nondisclosure agreement violated its First Amendment right to communicate with Trump
Twitter said if it had to turn over the records before the judge assessed the legality of the nondisclosure agreement, it would prevent Trump “from asserting executive privilege to shield communications made using his Twitter account,” the document says.
The warrant ordered Twitter to provide the records by January 27. A judge found Twitter to be in contempt after a court hearing on February 7, but gave the company an opportunity to hand over the documents by 5pm that evening. Twitter, however, only turned over some records that day. It didn’t fully comply with the order until Feb. 9, the ruling says.
Elon Musk has used the platform as a partisan megaphone (AFP via Getty Images)In the broader case against Trump, his legal team has indicated it will argue that he was relying on the advice of lawyers in 2020 and had the right to challenge an election he believed was rigged.
Trump used his Twitter account in the weeks leading up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to spread false statements about the election that prosecutors allege were designed to sow mistrust in the democratic process.
The indictment details how Trump over Twitter encouraged his followers to come to Washington on January 6, pressured his Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification and falsely suggested that the mob at the Capitol — which beat police officers and smashed windows — was peaceful.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid rapid changes instituted by Musk, who purchased the platform last year. Since taking over he’s transformed the influential site, laying off much of its staff, including workers dedicated to ferreting out misinformation and hate speech.
He also eliminated Twitter’s policy on COVID-19 misinformation and welcomed back a long list of users who had been previously banned, including neo-Nazis, COVID deniers and Trump, who was kicked off after the attack on the Capitol for glorifying violence.
Trump has yet to post to the site since being allowed back on. As Trump once did, Musk has used the platform as a partisan megaphone.
Last year Musk urged his many online followers to vote Republican in the midterm elections. This year he hosted Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis for a glitch-filled campaign kickoff.
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The election conspiracy case is the second case Smith has brought against Trump. The former president is also facing dozens of felony counts stemming from classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump’s legal team in court papers Wednesday urged the judge to allow for the reestablishment of a secure facility at Trump’s home where the former president can discuss classified evidence with his attorneys while they prepare for trial in that case.
Prosecutors say Trump should only be to do so at sensitive compartmented information facilities — or SCIFs. But Trump’s lawyers say “immense practical and logistical hurdles and costs” would make travelling to government-approved locations difficult. He wants to recreate the same secure facility at Mar-a-Lago in which he was allowed to discuss classified materials as president.
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