Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
@kyledcheney
Aug 16, 2023 • 13 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
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…

Image
Image
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…
Image
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…
Image
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…

Image
Image
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…
Image
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…
Image
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…

Image
Image
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…

Image
Image
@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…

Image
Image
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…

Image
Image
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…
Image

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Kyle Cheney

Kyle Cheney Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @kyledcheney

Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Oct 6
BREAKING: Judge Immergut has called a 10PM (ET) hearing on Trump's effort to circumvent her National Guard order by calling up California troops.
NEW: Judge Immergut could quickly halt Trump's deployment of CA guard troops to Portland, a workaround that tested her warning that Trump's initial callup was illegal and based on false claims about the unrest facing ICE.

w/ @joshgerstein @jonesblakej

politico.com/news/2025/10/0…
@joshgerstein @jonesblakej UPDATE: Hegseth today called up 400 members of the Texas National Guard, with Gov. Abbott's apparent permission, to be deployed "where needed, including in the cities of Portland and Chicago." politico.com/news/2025/10/0…Image
Read 7 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Oct 4
BREAKING: A federal judge has granted a restraining order blocking President Trump's call-up of the National Guard in Portland.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Judge IMMERGUT, a Trump appointee to the bench, ruled that Trump's call-up was based on false claims about unrest in Portland and that Trump's own statements were "simply untethered to the facts." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
MORE: Immergut issued a stark warning that the efforts by Trump to make a bad-faith justification to call up the guard risked plunging the country into a form of unconstitutional military rule.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Read 4 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 27
Trump now going after the rank-and-file FBI agents who responded to help restore order to an overrun Capitol on Jan. 6 — falsely accusing them based on inaccurate/misleading reports yesterday of being agitators in the crowd. Image
The reporting Trump claims supports this allegation … simply doesn’t.
NEW: Trump falsely suggested today that rank-and-file FBI agents fomented the Jan. 6 attack that a mob of his supporters unleashed on the Capitol, leaning into conspiracy theories as he accuses a second FBI director of committing crimes.

w/ @iriesentner

politico.com/news/2025/09/2…
Read 5 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 24
Over the weekend, we wrote about how dozens of judges have found ICE's new detention policy — seeking to lock up millions of people facing deportation without a chance for bond — is illegal.

Last night, four more judges added to the growing list: politico.com/news/2025/09/2…
One detainend man has lived in the US for 32 years with no criminal record. Judge Sherriff ordered his release yesterday: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Judge Boulware found that another man — who does have a criminal history of driving infractions and a DUI — nevertheless should receive a bond hearing rather than mandatory detention, in part because of some extreme factors in his case. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Read 5 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 20
Trump criticizes Pam Bondi for not charging his adversaries quickly enough, in a Truth Social post that looks a lot like a DM. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTru…Image
Trump reposted the message makes explicit he's referring to Lindsey Halligan, his onetime personal lawyer who now works in the WH. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTru…Image
Most logical read of this: Trump wants Pam Bondi to name Lindsey Halligan interim U.S. attorney in EDVA so she can charge Letitia James, which he says is a "great case" and that the delay in charging her is hurting his reputation.
Read 5 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 20
NEW: In a break from decades of history, the Trump administration has started detaining virtually everyone facing deportation — even if they’ve lived in the U.S. for decades.

Dozens of judges, with increasing alarm, have ruled the policy shift illegal.

politico.com/news/2025/09/2…
At issue is an interpretation of immigration law that requires detention for “applicants for admission” — long interpreted to mean people who are trying to come into the U.S.

Those already in the U.S. have been allowed to seek bond from an immigration judge.

But on July 8, ICE reinterpreted these laws to say that the millions of people inside U.S. borders are still “applicants for admission” and must be detained.

politico.com/news/2025/09/2…
This has led to indiscriminate arrests of immigrants in courthouses, routine ICE check-ins and at their jobs, even if they’ve followed every requirement imposed by judges and ICE, even if they’d previously won release from custody, and even if they are pursuing forms of legal status like asylum — and have U.S. citizen spouses, children and family members.

politico.com/news/2025/09/2…
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(