The US special counsel leading the investigations into former President Donald Trump’s activities has revealed an unsealed secret search warrant for his Twitter data from January. The warrant, obtained by Jack Smith, sought ‘data and records’ connected to Mr. Trump’s Twitter account, including unpublished tweets.
The disclosure comes after a legal struggle with Twitter, which initially resisted the warrant but later complied, albeit missing a court-imposed deadline by three days.
The resulting delay led to Twitter, now known as X under Elon Musk’s ownership, being slapped with a $350,000 (£275,000) fine for contempt of court. The details of the search warrant and the legal battle were unveiled in recently unsealed court documents.
While Twitter’s lawyers did not object to the warrant itself, they contested the nondisclosure order that kept the warrant secret. They argued for the right to inform customers whose accounts were being investigated through search warrants. In February, X (formerly Twitter) provided the requested data but chose to challenge the fine. Unfortunately for the company, its appeal was rejected by a US appeals court last month.
Despite the unsealing of the documents, the exact nature of the data requested by Mr. Smith remains somewhat opaque. The court records simply mention that the warrant instructed X to produce data and records linked to Mr. Trump’s Twitter account.
In an unrelated development, a US congressional panel investigating the events surrounding the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot discovered that Mr. Trump had drafted, but not sent, a tweet encouraging his supporters to come to Washington. The tweet stated: “I will be making a Big Speech at 10 a.m. on January 6th at the Ellipse (South of the White House). Please arrive early, massive crowds are expected. March to the Capitol after. Stop the steal!”
Mr. Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account, boasting 86.5 million followers, was suspended following the riot. Its restoration in November 2022 followed a poll by Mr. Musk asking users whether the former president should regain access to the platform.
However, Mr. Trump has not resumed posting on X since his reinstatement. Instead, he has favored his platform, Truth Social. Experts have noted that the contractual terms of his Truth Social venture could result in substantial financial losses if he were to resume posting on X.
In response to news of the search warrant, Mr. Trump took to Truth Social, stating that it was a “major ‘hit’ on my civil rights… These are DARK DAYS IN AMERICA!”
Mr. Trump remains the subject of investigations led by Mr. Smith, with charges relating to both events following the 2020 election and the handling of classified documents.
