NEW: Jack Smith obtained a stunning amount of Trump’s data from Twitter — DMs (yes, there were DMs), location info, draft tweets and more — newly unsealed court docs show. https://t.co/ZPNSswoF3Wpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
But that’s just the start. The documents show Twitter mounted an unprecedented effort to impede the search warrant by notifying Trump — prompting an incredulous Judge Beryl Howell to wonder if Elon Musk was trying to “cozy up” to him. https://t.co/mVlasM13bOpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
Prosecutors repeatedly described Trump learning about their search warrant for his Twitter data as a serious threat to the investigation and to witnesses. https://t.co/suzboQeuKtpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
The bottom line: Twitter pleaded to inform Trump about a search warrant in a way that it apparently never did in its 17-year existence with any other user. It did this despite having no knowledge of the basis for the warrant or nondisclosure order. politico.com/news/2023/08/1…
MORE: Twitter’s basis for this was the prospect that some DMs could be covered be executive privilege. Howell and prosecutors were incredulous that Trump would be DMing close senior advisers to do official business https://t.co/QJfI5XyMG0politico.com/news/2023/08/1…
Twitter says it doesn’t read users’ DMs but determined Trump sent/received them based on storage data: https://t.co/ONldmtkFnPpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
Howell kept returning to the theme of the company, under Musk seeming to want to ingratiate itself to Trump. She said many users with valid privilege claims (marital, religious, etc) don’t get that kind of treatment. So why Trump?
https://t.co/lBVGp9KWdUpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
Read the newly unsealed filings here:
And here: https://t.co/QyCRvwWSD2dcd.uscourts.gov/content/doc-50…
dcd.uscourts.gov/content/doc-50…
SIDE NOTE: An appeals court panel that upheld Howell’s contempt order against Twitter caused a boom of news stories saying Judge Howell found Trump was a flight risk (left).
She actually said the exact opposite (right). https://t.co/wdAdgtE6s7cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opini…
MORE: One thing prosecutors appeared to pursue is who *currently* has the keys to the @realdonaldtrump account.
Apparently, at least as of February, the list included Trump’s representatives to NARA (left). That list (right) includes some fun names.
https://t.co/GWnQb7qRLtpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
@realDonaldTrump The discussion about Trump’s “fleets” is amazing. In sum:
Judge: WTF are fleets?
Twitter lawyer: No idea (!) just heard about them today
Special counsel: WTF are fleets?! But also, you better give us all of Donald Trump’s fleets.
https://t.co/8oXs1wVPBwpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
NOTABLE: Chief Judge Boasberg, who took over grand jury matters from Howell in March, lifted Twitter's non-disclosure order in June (when it was due to expire), which authorized Twitter to inform Trump about the search warrant.
Unclear if they told him.
https://t.co/MDHejUVUdrpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
In one of its unsealed filings, Twitter acknowledges that — given his aversion to texts and emails — Trump's DMs may be "the only such electronic communications written by the former President himself." https://t.co/EeGNT0Dwmcpolitico.com/news/2023/08/1…
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