WASHINGTON − Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s long-dormant Twitter account in January, according to a court document unsealed Wednesday.
A federal judge found Twitter, now known as X, in contempt found fined the company $350,000 when it initially did not comply.
The revelation of the warrant is outlined in a decision last month from a federal Court of Appeals that upheld the judge’s decision, The decision was unsealed in court Wednesday.
“Twitter initially delayed production of the materials required by the search warrant while it unsuccessfully litigated objections to the nondisclosure order,” the appeals court’s 34-page opinion reads.
“Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not fully produce the requested information until three days after a court-ordered deadline. The district court thus held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction for its delay.”
The Justice Department obtained the search warrant on Jan. 17, 2023 as part of its investigation into Trump, citing “probable cause to search the Twitter account for evidence of criminal offenses,” according to the appeals court opinion.
“Moreover, the district court found that there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that disclosing the warrant to former President Trump ‘would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation’ by giving him ‘anopportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, (or) notify confederates.”
The warrant directed Twitter to produce data and records related to the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account, according to the document. The government also obtained a nondisclosure order, which prohibited Twitter from disclosing the existence or contents of the search warrant to any person.
On his Truth Social account, Trump protested that the Justice Department “secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major ‘hit’ on my civil rights.” Grand jury investigations are secret by law so that suspects do not know what prosecutors are looking at.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.