X gave access to 32 direct messages from Donald Trump's account to special counsel
Donald Trump
Newly unsealed court filings have revealed that X, (formerly Twitter) turned over at least 32 direct messages from former president Donald Trump's account to Special Counsel Jack Smith, according to a CNN report.
The revelations were made last month but the new filing shows the extent of the data received and howprosecutors specifically argued that Trump posed a risk of tampering with evidence, while seeking to secure data from his X account.
Though it remains unclear how the messages affected the investigation, the documents reveal that Smith and his team were able to lay hands on private records associated with the account as well.
Prosecutors school X
Notably,X had initially refused to turn over the information, as the Justice Department requested to not disclose the request to Trump.DOJargued that if Trump learnt about the warrant, it“would result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses or serious jeopardy to this investigation”.
However, the delay meant that Smith got access to only 32 DMs and the prosecutors let the court know about it.
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“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.
The Elon Musk-owned company put up resistance, arguing that some of Trump’s direct messages might be covered byexecutive privilege if he was communicating about state business with other administration officials.
“As such, Twitter sought to delay compliance with the entirety of the Warrant based on the speculative possibility that a tiny fraction of the total production could, implausibly, contain instances when the President sought to use the direct-messaging function to carry out sensitive and confidential deliberations with trusted advisors within the Executive Branch,” the prosecutors added.
Ultimately, X produced the record but not before it was fined $350,000 for not handing over the data in time. During one of the court hearings,DOJ attorney Thomas Windom complained about the lax attitude by X in the handing over of the data.
“I had felt like I had been getting nickeled-and-dimed for the prior 20 minutes of conversation. We need the material. We need it now. We needed it 13 days ago,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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