Special Counsel Jack Smith demanded that Twitter (now “X”) turn over former President Donald Trump’s direct messages, a violation of his First Amendment rights, the Stored Communications Act, and potentially, executive privilege.
The Department of Justice ultimately fined Elon Musk’s company $350,000 for not complying with the order fast enough, as then-Twitter resisted turning over the messages by the appointed deadline.
Defense Attorney Marina Medvin shared the relevant documentation, which can be read below.
Special Counsel obtained a search warrant for Donald Trump’s Twitter account @realdonaldtrump
Although @elonmusk’s Twitter tried to withhold Trump’s records due to the nondisclosure provision of the search warrant, and was fined $350K in the process for not complying timely,… pic.twitter.com/N57nwddbAs
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) August 9, 2023
“The district court issued a search warrant in a criminal case, directing appellant Twitter, Inc. (‘Twitter’) to produce information to the government related to the Twitter account ‘@realDonaldTrump’,” the court order read. “The search warrant was served along with a nondisclosure order that prohibited Twitter from notifying anyone about the existence or contents of the warrant.”
“Twitter initially delated production of the materials required by the search warrant while it unsuccessfully litigated objections to the nondisclosure order,” it continued. “Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not fully produce the requested information until three days after a court-ordered deadline.”
“The district court thus held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction for its delay,” the court filing read.
“In this appeal, Twitter argues that the nondisclosure order violated the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act; that the district court should have stayed its enforcement of the search warrant until after Twitter’s objections to the nondisclosure order were resolved; and that the district court abused its discretion by holding Twitter in contempt and imposing the sanction,” the statement noted. “We affirm the district court in all respects.”
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Source: Becker News Rephrased By: InfoArmed