Twitter Penalized for Delayed Response to Search Warrant for Donald Trump’s Account
After court documents revealing the warrant emerged, Politico reported that special counsel Jack Smith has been authorized to search former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account as part of his inquiry into the events of January 6th, 2020.
Smith received permission in January, but had trouble getting records from Twitter. First, his investigators apparently encountered a “defunct” website typically used to make legitimate requests to law enforcement. When they were able to provide the authorization, Twitter was slow to respond, according to court records.
According to recently unsealed court documents, the issue was a non-disclosure agreement that prevented Twitter from disclosing the existence of the warrant, including to Trump. The company argued that it had a First Amendment right to notify Trump of the order, leading to a months-long legal battle between Twitter and the special counsel’s office.
The court sided with the government, and Twitter was required to hand over the information. During the trial, the government amended the nondisclosure order to allow Twitter to “notify the former president of the existence and content of the warrant,” provided they withhold the agent’s identity.
But the company missed a court-ordered deadline to hand over all its documents and was fined $350,000 after being found in contempt. “Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not provide the requested information in its entirety until three days after the court-ordered deadline,” the filing states.
The legal dispute highlights the role of Trump’s Twitter account in the events of January 6. The company suspended the @realdonaldtrump account the night of the riot after he tweeted support for the violent mob. Trump’s account was reinstated after Elon Musk bought the company last year, but the former president has yet to return to the platform.
The company, now known as X, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
