Special Counsel Jack Smith sought information on hundreds of millions of Twitter/X users who interacted with Trump’s account in virtually any capacity.
DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith issued a search warrant for all information related to former President Trump’s Twitter account, including a list of all users who liked, retweeted or followed his posts, heavily redacted court filings show.
The 14-page warrant also demanded information on virtually every aspect of the 2024 Republican primary frontrunner’s account, including his search history, drafted tweets, blocks, mutes, direct messages, and a list of all devices used to log into the account.
The warrant, issued in January against the social media company now known as X, was among several documents released as part of a lawsuit seeking transparency on Smith’s investigation into Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the US Capitol.
From the New York Post:
In the pages that aren’t obscured, there are demands by Smith for information on virtually every conceivable aspect of the 77-year-old former president’s Twitter account, including “all advertising information … and ad topic preferences,” all IP addresses associated with the account, Trump’s privacy and account settings, records of the account’s communications with Twitter support and all direct messages sent and received by the account from October 2020 to January 2021.
The government also sought information on users who interacted with Trump leading up to the riot.
“All information from the ‘Connect’ or ‘Notifications’ tab for the account, including all lists of Twitter users who have favorited or retweeted tweets posted by the account, as well as all tweets that include the username associated with the account (i.e. “mentions” or “replies”),” the warrant states.
The warrant was issued to the social media giant along with a nondisclosure order, instructing the company not to notify Trump about the search.
X initially challenged the nondisclosure order, claiming it violated the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act. Its initial noncompliance resulted in a $350,000 fine leveled against the company.
“For what appears to be the first time in its history, Twitter Inc. (‘Twitter’) has filed a motion to vacate or modify an order that it not disclose the existence of a search warrant,” Smith argued, insisting that “there is reason to believe notification to the former president, a sophisticated actor with an expansive platform, would result in a statutorily cognizable harm.”
“The NDO was granted based on facts showing that notifying the former president would result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, or other serious jeopardy to an investigation or delaying of trial,” Smith added to the heavily redacted filing.
The warrant is stunning in its scope given Trump’s prolific Twitter use and the fact he had over 88 million followers by the time Twitter de-platformed Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump’s account was reinstated in November 2022 after Elon Musk took over the company.
Smith filed a four-count federal indictment against Trump in August on charges of conspiracy and attempting to obstruct the execution of congressional proceedings stemming from his alleged actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Many X users decried the DOJ’s move to collect their data as a police state tactic meant to instill a chilling effect on overt support for Trump.
And? What are they going to do? Target Trump supporters? Boy, if this isn’t nazi communist crap I don’t know what is. Remember, it wasn’t just the jews in the concentration camps. It was also people against the nazi regime.
— LadyKat47?? (@Lmvm71) November 29, 2023
It’s a fear tactic to try and get Trump supporters to quit speaking up.
— S Led23 (@aalcunlimetd) November 29, 2023
But wait, I thought that wasn’t happening, they said. We were told that wasn’t happening at the time, that it never happened, and they would never do such a thing. Imagine that. How many of these so called conspiracy theories have turned out to be 100 percent true. 100%.
— Croxxed Out (@FLCons) November 29, 2023
Every aspect of the DOJ needs to be scrutinized. Our country cannot survive 4 more years as a police state. Dramatic, drastic change is required.
— Mark Thompson (@marktmt) November 29, 2023
So all those times I joked about being watched by feds was actually true. I just hope my agent liked my memes
— Pickle for Sanity (@ASanePickle) November 29, 2023
They spied, they lied, #JackDorsey handed the reins of X to the @FBI just for that purpose. We all were spied on since 2016 election. They targeted over 100 million Americans based on their belief in the rule of law. Hard to believe but it’s true.
— TexasGirl23 ?? (@NatashaTX23) November 29, 2023
Dissolve the DOJ
— Gibborim (@JackWhi95926970) November 29, 2023
What the DOJ plans to do with X’s massive database of Trump supporters remains to be seen — but it can’t be good.
Read the redacted warrant: