Twitter now known as X, has turned over at least 32 direct messages(DMs) from the account of Donald Trump. To Special Counsel Jack Smith and his federal prosecutors for the criminal probe into the attempted overturning of the 2020 Presidential Election.
When prosecutors originally attempted to retrieve the evidence from Twitter they were met with some reluctance. Twitter wanted to alert Trump of the prosecution’s attempt to seize all communications within the @realDonaldTrump account. However, Special Counsel Smith asked that the court demand Twitter comply without alerting Trump to the seizure. Prosecutors cited Trump’s past obstruction as a reason to grant the request.
“This pattern of obstructive conduct amply supports the district court’s conclusion that the former President presents a significant risk of tampering with evidence, seeking to influence or intimidate potential witnesses, and ‘otherwise seriously jeopardizing’ the Government’s ongoing investigations,” the special counsel’s office wrote.
Twitter was sanctioned by the court for delaying the process. Those sanctions were appealed by Twitter to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C.
Prosecutors wanted total access to Trump’s account, as stated in the warrant “[a]ll content, records, and other information relating to communications sent from or received by the SUBJECT ACCOUNT from October 2020 to January 2021, including . .. The content of all direct messages sent from, received by, stored in draft form in, or otherwise associated with the SUBJECT ACCOUNT.” It also sought “All other content, records, and other information relating to all other interactions between the SUBJECT ACCOUNT and other Twitter users from October 2020 to January 2021.”
Which makes the 32 DMs Twitter shared with the prosecution seem like a low number. Court filings suggest Jack Smith and his team were expecting more from the account.
“Indeed, the materials Twitter produced to the Government included only 32 direct-message items, constituting a minuscule proportion of the total production,” the prosecutors wrote in the newly unsealed brief.
For more on this topic check out the CNN segment below.
The-Anti-Social-Media Pro-DEMOCRACY WING 