In a significant development in the ongoing election interference case against former President Donald Trump, a federal appeals court has rejected his request to block Special Counsel Jack Smith from accessing his then-Twitter feed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., ruled on the matter and denied further review, upholding the decision of an appellate panel that had previously rejected the original request.
The appeals were initiated by Twitter, now referred to as “X,” as the company sought to block special counsel access to the records it held. Smith, in his pursuit of evidence, stated that he could have obtained the material from the National Archives, which gained access to the records after Trump left office. However, doing so would have triggered notice to Trump. To avoid this, a search warrant was requested through the company under seal and with a non-disclosure notice, preventing Trump from asserting executive privilege claims over the digital communications.
The appeals court decision was not without dissent, as the four conservative judges on the panel would have granted en banc review. Judge Rao, a Trump bench appointee, expressed concern about the absence of a presumptive privilege for executive communications. This decision, according to Judge Rao, raises questions about the potential breach of executive privilege in future cases involving presidential communications.
The ruling paves the way for Trump to potentially appeal to the Supreme Court to review the matter. Meanwhile, Smith plans to utilize data from the cellphone that Trump used in his final weeks in office, including information regarding when Trump’s phone was unlocked and the Twitter application was open on January 6, 2021. Unsealed court filings from August revealed that Smith’s team had already obtained location data, draft tweets, and other information related to Trump’s Twitter account.
The company formerly known as Twitter, now referred to as X Corp., attempted to block and delay the efforts to access the data earlier this year. One federal judge even speculated that Elon Musk, the owner and one-time CEO of X Corp., was trying to align himself with Trump. However, the social media giant ultimately lost the legal battle and was compelled to hand over an extensive list of data related to the “@realdonaldtrump” account, including tweets, searches, devices used, IP addresses, and associated accounts.
This is a developing story, and updates are expected. Brooke Singman, a political correspondent and reporter for Digital, Channel, and FOX Business, will continue to cover the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail and provide exclusive interviews and political content.
