Former President Donald Trump is issuing a fiery response to the news Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for his Twitter account.
In a post on Truth Social, he wrote, “Just found out that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ secretly attacked my Twitter account, making it a point not to let me know about this major ‘hit’ on my civil rights.”
“My Political Opponent is going CRAZY trying to infringe on my Campaign for President. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Does the First Amendment still exist?” he continued.
Finally, Trump wrote, “These are DARK DAYS IN AMERICA!”
“Does the First Amendment still exist?” pic.twitter.com/K4nHRpdoEd
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) August 9, 2023
Trump is facing criminal charges stemming from Smith’s investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
He entered a plea of not guilty in that case.
On Wednesday, court documents revealed Smith obtained a search warrant for documents related to the former president’s account.
“It’s unclear what information Smith may have sought from the platform. Possibilities include data about when and where the posts were written, their engagement and the identities of other accounts that reposted Trump’s content,” The Associated Press reports.
According to The Associated Press, the warrant was obtained on Jan. 17 after a court found “probable cause to search the account for evidence of criminal offenses.” It ordered X, formerly known as Twitter, to hand over information related to the account.
However, the company was hit with a $350,000 fine after it missed a deadline to turn over the information.
According to the filing, X was given a deadline of Jan. 27 to comply with the warrant. And a judge found the company in contempt of court on Feb. 7 and gave it a deadline of 5 p.m. that day to turn over the documents. However, it did not fully comply until Feb. 9.
The filing also revealed the government obtained a nondisclosure agreement with X, that prevented it from disclosing the warrant.
Additionally, the filing shows the court found disclosing the warrant could endanger the prosecutor’s investigation and allow Trump “an opportunity to destroy evidence” or “change patterns of behavior.”
