According to new court documents, Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant earlier this year to investigate former President Donald Trump’s official Twitter account.
It has now been revealed that the information turned over included his private Direct Messages (DMs).
Twitter, now X, initially refused to comply with the January 17 warrant, which led a federal court to hold them in contempt and levy a hefty $350,000 fine. The warrant also had a “nondisclosure order,” which prevented the company from notifying Trump or anyone else about the search.
Twitter said the order violated First Amendment rights but finally gave in.
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For the first time since the ruling, the court has revealed some details of this highly secretive legal battle.
In the 34-page redacted opinion, the three judges in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the fine against Twitter since they did not produce data until three days after the deadline.
Smith’s motivations to look into Trump’s account have not been clarified. Trump was suspended from Twitter after the January 6 riots in the Capitol where he called his supporters to Washington to “stop the steal,” following his loss to now-president Joe Biden. It is thought that Trump’s DMs might offer some insight into his mindset leading up to January 6.
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