Reportedly, special counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, newly released court documents reveal. Apparently, in an appeals court filing, it has been disclosed that a warrant was served back in January, along with a nondisclosure order that prohibited Twitter, now known as X, from making it public. Under the warrant, Trump was not permitted to be notified.
Twitter challenged the nondisclosure order, but was unsuccessful. The company did not hand over the requested materials while the litigation was ongoing. Despite the fact that Twitter eventually complied with the warrant, Trump's account, @realDonaldTrump, was not turned over to Smith's investigation until three days after a court-ordered deadline, the documents state.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Twitter's contention that the nondisclosure order violated the First Amendment and that the federal judge who issued the warrant, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell, should have stopped it from being served until the dispute was resolved.
Suggesting two less restrictive alternatives to the nondisclosure order, Twitter, offered one - of which was to only alert Trump and his legal team, which the court said was a "nonstarter." Apparently the appellate judges sided with Howell.
They reasoning that any disclosure of the warrant-
"would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation"[ by giving Trump] "an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates."
- Decision Filed by D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
One of the panelist’s, Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee wrote-
"[T]he whole point of the nondisclosure order was to avoid tipping off the former President about the warrant's existence,"
- Judge Florence Pan, Panelist, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
In his response to this disclosure, Trump posted on Truth Social, on Wednesday, after the court documents were unsealed-
"Just found out that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major ‘hit’ on my civil rights,"… "My Political Opponent is going CRAZY trying to infringe on my Campaign for President. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Does the First Amendment still exist? Did Deranged Jack Smith tell the Unselects to DESTROY & DELETE all evidence? These are DARK DAYS IN AMERICA!"
-Former President and 2024 Republican Presidential Hopeful, Donald J. Trump
Former president and current front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, Trump is charged with conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy against rights.
“Of darkness visible so much be lent, as half to show, half veil, the deep intent.”
-Alexander Pope