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Kyle Cheney Profile picture
@kyledcheney
Aug 16, 2023 • 13 tweets • 8 min read • Read on X
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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…

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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…
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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…
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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…

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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…
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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…
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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…

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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…

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@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…

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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…

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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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More from @kyledcheney

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
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 18
Magistrate judge Faruqui, who has been on a tear over DOJ's flimsy prosecutions in recent weeks, was floored by the Trump administration's decision to level a federal marijuana possession charge against a recently arrested defendant. But that's not all... storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
He says DOJ held the man in detention for *three days* on this misdemeanor charge even though prosecutors later agreed he shouldn't be detained at all. And that's still not all... storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Prosecutors seized the indigent man's phone, leaving him without a means to contact his lawyer or access his personal information. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
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Read 4 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 16
GRASSLEY asks if Jeffrey Epstein was a U.S. government or foreig government asset. Patel says he can only speak for the FBI and that Epstein was not a source for the bureau.
PATEL uses his opening statement tosay Alex Acosta's handling of the original Epstein case was the "original sin" of the saga, saying the nonprosecution agreement he struck after initial plea deal locked down many records under court order.
PATEL says the Jan. 6 pipe bomb investigation is "ongoing." He says there's "a lot of evidence" but he can't share it yet.
Read 6 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Sep 10
LAWSUIT INCOMING: FBI leaders fired by Director Kash Patel — including Brian Driscoll and Steve Jensen — have filed some kind of action against the Patel and the bureau. Details TK Image
UPDATE: In the lawsuit, three senior FBI officials fired by Kash Patel say Patel informed them that he was instructed to "fire anyone" who worked on any investigation related to Trump. And said his own job depended on carrying out the firings. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
The FBI officials say Patel informed Driscoll that his vetting for FBI leaderhsip woudl be fine, so long as he hadn't donated to Dems or voted for Kamala Harris. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Read 4 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Aug 31
BREAKING: A federal judge has *blocked* the Trump administration from abruptly deporting 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children — perhaps within a matter of hours — granting an emergency restraining order after advocates called the plan illegal + dangerous. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
NEW: Judge Sooknanan acted quickly to block as many as 600 Guatemalan children from being deported by the Trump administration without due process. A judge in Illinois took a similar step for 4 children whose lawyers sued Saturday.

w/ @joshgerstein
politico.com/news/2025/08/3…Image
@joshgerstein MORE: This is reminiscent of the emergency fight over Alien Enemies Act — an overnight lawsuit alleging abrupt deportations and violation of due process, quick restraining order by a judge, hearing set for the afternoon.

We'll learn more at 3pm. politico.com/news/2025/08/3…
Read 14 tweets
Kyle Cheney Profile picture
Aug 25
HAPPENING NOW: Judge Xinis is leaning toward issuing another restraining order to block Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immediate deportation to Uganda at least through this week — she wants an evidentiary hearing on Friday.
XINIS says law may require Abrego's deportation to his country of choice, given that Costa Rica has indicated a willingness to accept him, give him refugee status and vow not to re-deport him to El Salvador.

Uganda, where administration plans to send him, has made no promises.
XINIS emphasizes that she has serious concerns about the claim that DOJ pressured Abrego into a guilty plea by offering him deportation to Costa Rica — and threatening deportation to Uganda if he refused.

DOJ's Drew Ensign says Abrego's deportation is not "imminent," given pace of third-country removals.
Read 7 tweets

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