Court documents released Wednesday reveal that special prosecutor Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for Donald Trump's Twitter account and kept it secret. This took place as part of the investigation into the alleged efforts of the former president to annul the results of the 2020 elections.
According to the information, the prosecutor obtained an order in January of this year forcing Twitter to provide him with information about the @realDonaldTrump account after the possibility was raised that evidence of criminal offenses related to his case was found in the former president's account.
While it is unclear what exactly Smith was seeking, it is known that thanks to the warrant, the prosecutor gained access to the inner workings of the Twitter account that Trump actively used before the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
A secret legal battle with Twitter
In addition to registering the former president's account, the order also prohibited the social network from notifying about the existence or content of the report. This led to a secret legal battle that ended in a $350,000 penalty for the communications platform.
According to the documents, Twitter delayed the delivery of materials required by the order because it believed the disclosure ban violated the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act. The social network even filed a motion to vacate the nondisclosure order, but the court forced the company to continue with the process.
"Although Twitter ultimately complied with the order, the company did not submit the requested information until three days after the court-ordered deadline," the filing notes. Because of this, a court held the social network in contempt and imposed a sanction "for its delay." The court justified the nondisclosure order by stating that there were "reasonable grounds" to believe that disclosing the court order would provide an opportunity to "destroy evidence."
However, when certain information about the investigation became public, the confidentiality order was modified, and Twitter was allowed to notify the former president about the order.
Donald Trump reacts
"[I] just found out that Crooked Joe Biden's DOJ secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major "hit" on my civil rights. My Political Opponent is going CRAZY trying to infringe on my Campaign for President. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Does the First Amendment still exist?" the former president questioned.
