Last week it was revealed that Special Counsel Jack Smith sought and obtained a search warrant earlier this year to gain access to former and potentially future President Donald Trump's Twitter account. It turns out it wasn't just tweets he sought, but also Trump's direct messages as well as tweets that were drafted, deleted, liked, or retweeted. Prosecutors wanted searches and interactions between Trump's account and other Twitter accounts as well. Newsweek included the 206-page unsealed document in their coverage.
The warrant was granted despite pushback from Twitter, now named X Corp., which was held in contempt of court and fined $350,000 in February. Twitter lost its appeal as well.
Other concerns included how Twitter was not to tell Trump. As The Hill detailed:
Much of Twitter’s resistance to turning over the information was due to a Justice Department request to not disclose the request to Trump, initially refusing to comply with the court order to turn over the records in a decision that would cost them $350,000.
But in the transcripts, the company also expressed fear some of Trump’s direct messages could be covered by executive privilege if he was communicating about state business with other administration officials.
The documents show the scope of the information sought by Smith, which also included information on any tweets that had been created or drafted and then subsequently deleted, as well as all searches connected to the account.
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Some of the arguments between the two parties centered on the extent of the evidence prosecutors used to back their request for a warrant to access the account, and Twitter sought to argue there was no need to shield the search from Trump given public information about the investigation.
“You don’t even know the half about the very warrant you are coming in here to delay the execution of,” Howell said during one of the meetings with attorneys from DOJ and the company.
The transcripts also show the degree of frustration from prosecutors over the resistance from Twitter to turning over the subpoenaed materials, with DOJ attorney Thomas Windom complaining about earlier phone calls to address concerns prior to appearing in court.
While other outlets glossed over or ignored how U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell inserted speculation into the matter with regards to then-CEO Elon Musk and Trump, Fox News covered as much:
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell held the former Twitter in contempt of court and fined the company $350,000 in February, records show. Transcripts from in the courtroom also show the depth of Howell's frustration with the company's legal team.
"Is this to make Donald Trump feel like he is a particularly welcomed new renewed user of Twitter?" Howell asked.
"Twitter has no interest other than litigation its constitutional rights," their legal team responded.
Howell would not let the issue drop, asking later on, "Is it because the new CEO wants to cozy up with the former president?"
Musk restored Trump's Twitter account last November, as he did with many other previously banned accounts. Trump has stayed on his platform of TruthSocial, however.
In what has been regarded as election interference ahead of 2024, Smith has charged Trump in multiple indictments, including to do with his handling of classified documents and for the events on and leading up to January 6, 2021.
Trump currently remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential primary, with Trump at 54.4 percent support, according to RealClearPolitics (RCP). A hypothetical matchup between Trump and President Joe Biden also looks to be close, with Biden up with just a spread of +0.3, at 44.9 percent to Trump's 44.6 percent, also according to RCP.
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