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Special counsel got a search warrant for Twitter to turn over info on Trump's account, documents say
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Leroy N. Soetoro
Aug 11, 2023, 4:54:30 PM8/11/23
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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/special-counsel-obtained-search-warrant-
165833738.html
Special counsel Jack Smith's team obtained a search warrant in January for
records related to former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, and a
judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for missing the deadline to
comply, according to court documents released Wednesday.
The new details were included in a ruling from the federal appeals court
in Washington over a legal battle surrounding the warrant that has played
out under seal for months. The court rejected Twitter's claim that it
should not have been held in contempt or sanctioned.
Smith's team repeatedly mentioned Trump's tweets in an indictment unsealed
last week that charges the former president with conspiring to subvert the
will of voters and cling to power after he lost the 2020 election to
Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump, a Republican, has pleaded not guilty to charges including
conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of Congress’
certification of Biden’s win. He posted on his Truth Social platform on
Wednesday that the Justice Department “secretly attacked” his Twitter
account, and he characterized the investigation as an attempt to
“infringe” on his bid to reclaim the White House in 2024.
It’s unclear what information Smith may have sought from Trump's account.
Possibilities include data about when and where the posts were written,
their engagement and the identities of other accounts that reposted
Trump’s content.
The search warrant underscores the breadth of the investigation and the
lengths Smith has gone to to obtain evidence to build his case. In a
recent signal that Smith's investigation is continuing, former New York
Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik met Monday with investigators from
special counsel Smith’s team.
Prosecutors obtained the search warrant on Jan. 17 directing Twitter to
produce information on Trump's account after a court “found probable cause
to search the account for evidence of criminal offenses,” according to the
ruling. The government also obtained a nondisclosure agreement that had
prohibited Twitter from disclosing the search warrant, the filing says.
The court found that disclosing the warrant could risk that Trump could
jeopardize the ongoing investigation by giving him “an opportunity to
destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior" or notify his allies, the
filing says.
Twitter objected to the nondisclosure agreement, saying four days after
the compliance deadline that it would not produce any of the account
information, according to the ruling. The judges wrote that Twitter “did
not question the validity of the search warrant” but argued that the
nondisclosure agreement violated its First Amendment right to communicate
with Trump
Twitter said if it had to turn over the records before the judge assessed
the legality of the nondisclosure agreement, it would prevent Trump “from
asserting executive privilege to shield communications made using his
Twitter account," the document says.
The warrant ordered Twitter to provide the records by Jan. 27. A judge
found Twitter to be in contempt after a court hearing on Feb. 7, but gave
the company an opportunity to hand over the documents by 5 p.m. that
evening. Twitter, however, only turned over some records that day. It
didn't fully comply with the order until Feb. 9, the ruling says.
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, sent an automated reply to a
request for comment, saying it would respond soon.
In the broader case against Trump, his legal team has indicated it will
argue that he was relying on the advice of lawyers in 2020 and had the
right to challenge an election he believed was rigged.
Trump used his Twitter account in the weeks leading up to his supporters'
attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to spread false statements about
the election that prosecutors allege were designed to sow mistrust in the
democratic process. The indictment details how Trump over Twitter
encouraged his followers to come to Washington on Jan. 6, pressured his
Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification and falsely
suggested that the mob at the Capitol — which beat police officers and
smashed windows — was peaceful.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid rapid changes instituted by Musk, who
purchased the platform last year. Since taking over he’s transformed the
influential site, laying off much of its staff, including workers
dedicated to ferreting out misinformation and hate speech.
He also eliminated Twitter’s policy on COVID-19 misinformation and
welcomed back a long list of users who had been previously banned,
including neo-Nazis, COVID deniers and Trump, who was kicked off after the
attack on the Capitol for glorifying violence.
Trump has yet to post to the site since being allowed back on. As Trump
once did, Musk has used the platform as a partisan megaphone.
Last year Musk urged his many online followers to vote Republican in the
midterm elections. This year he hosted Republican presidential candidate
Ron DeSantis for a glitch-filled campaign kickoff.
The election conspiracy case is the second case Smith has brought against
Trump. The former president is also facing dozens of felony counts
stemming from classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump's legal team in court papers Wednesday urged the judge to allow for
the reestablishment of a secure facility at Trump's home where the former
president can discuss classified evidence with his attorneys while they
prepare for trial in that case.
Prosecutors say Trump should only be to do so at sensitive compartmented
information facilities — or SCIFs. But Trump's lawyers say “immense
practical and logistical hurdles and costs” would make traveling to
government-approved locations difficult. He wants to recreate the same
secure facility at Mar-a-Lago in which he was allowed to discuss
classified materials as president.
___
Richer reported from Boston. Associated Press reporters Michelle Price,
David Klepper and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.
--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.
165833738.html
Special counsel Jack Smith's team obtained a search warrant in January for
records related to former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, and a
judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for missing the deadline to
comply, according to court documents released Wednesday.
The new details were included in a ruling from the federal appeals court
in Washington over a legal battle surrounding the warrant that has played
out under seal for months. The court rejected Twitter's claim that it
should not have been held in contempt or sanctioned.
Smith's team repeatedly mentioned Trump's tweets in an indictment unsealed
last week that charges the former president with conspiring to subvert the
will of voters and cling to power after he lost the 2020 election to
Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump, a Republican, has pleaded not guilty to charges including
conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of Congress’
certification of Biden’s win. He posted on his Truth Social platform on
Wednesday that the Justice Department “secretly attacked” his Twitter
account, and he characterized the investigation as an attempt to
“infringe” on his bid to reclaim the White House in 2024.
It’s unclear what information Smith may have sought from Trump's account.
Possibilities include data about when and where the posts were written,
their engagement and the identities of other accounts that reposted
Trump’s content.
The search warrant underscores the breadth of the investigation and the
lengths Smith has gone to to obtain evidence to build his case. In a
recent signal that Smith's investigation is continuing, former New York
Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik met Monday with investigators from
special counsel Smith’s team.
Prosecutors obtained the search warrant on Jan. 17 directing Twitter to
produce information on Trump's account after a court “found probable cause
to search the account for evidence of criminal offenses,” according to the
ruling. The government also obtained a nondisclosure agreement that had
prohibited Twitter from disclosing the search warrant, the filing says.
The court found that disclosing the warrant could risk that Trump could
jeopardize the ongoing investigation by giving him “an opportunity to
destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior" or notify his allies, the
filing says.
Twitter objected to the nondisclosure agreement, saying four days after
the compliance deadline that it would not produce any of the account
information, according to the ruling. The judges wrote that Twitter “did
not question the validity of the search warrant” but argued that the
nondisclosure agreement violated its First Amendment right to communicate
with Trump
Twitter said if it had to turn over the records before the judge assessed
the legality of the nondisclosure agreement, it would prevent Trump “from
asserting executive privilege to shield communications made using his
Twitter account," the document says.
The warrant ordered Twitter to provide the records by Jan. 27. A judge
found Twitter to be in contempt after a court hearing on Feb. 7, but gave
the company an opportunity to hand over the documents by 5 p.m. that
evening. Twitter, however, only turned over some records that day. It
didn't fully comply with the order until Feb. 9, the ruling says.
X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, sent an automated reply to a
request for comment, saying it would respond soon.
In the broader case against Trump, his legal team has indicated it will
argue that he was relying on the advice of lawyers in 2020 and had the
right to challenge an election he believed was rigged.
Trump used his Twitter account in the weeks leading up to his supporters'
attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to spread false statements about
the election that prosecutors allege were designed to sow mistrust in the
democratic process. The indictment details how Trump over Twitter
encouraged his followers to come to Washington on Jan. 6, pressured his
Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification and falsely
suggested that the mob at the Capitol — which beat police officers and
smashed windows — was peaceful.
The warrant arrived at Twitter amid rapid changes instituted by Musk, who
purchased the platform last year. Since taking over he’s transformed the
influential site, laying off much of its staff, including workers
dedicated to ferreting out misinformation and hate speech.
He also eliminated Twitter’s policy on COVID-19 misinformation and
welcomed back a long list of users who had been previously banned,
including neo-Nazis, COVID deniers and Trump, who was kicked off after the
attack on the Capitol for glorifying violence.
Trump has yet to post to the site since being allowed back on. As Trump
once did, Musk has used the platform as a partisan megaphone.
Last year Musk urged his many online followers to vote Republican in the
midterm elections. This year he hosted Republican presidential candidate
Ron DeSantis for a glitch-filled campaign kickoff.
The election conspiracy case is the second case Smith has brought against
Trump. The former president is also facing dozens of felony counts
stemming from classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump's legal team in court papers Wednesday urged the judge to allow for
the reestablishment of a secure facility at Trump's home where the former
president can discuss classified evidence with his attorneys while they
prepare for trial in that case.
Prosecutors say Trump should only be to do so at sensitive compartmented
information facilities — or SCIFs. But Trump's lawyers say “immense
practical and logistical hurdles and costs” would make traveling to
government-approved locations difficult. He wants to recreate the same
secure facility at Mar-a-Lago in which he was allowed to discuss
classified materials as president.
___
Richer reported from Boston. Associated Press reporters Michelle Price,
David Klepper and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report.
--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.
Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.
Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.
Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.
President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.
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