The room was locked when prosecutors from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office and lawyers from the company then known as Twitter Inc appeared Feb 9 before a federal judge in Washington.
US District Judge Beryl Howell was concerned that the parties were already back two days after they’d argued before her. On Feb 7, she’d rejected Twitter’s request for a delay in giving records to the government. The social media company had asked for more time to fight an order stopping them from alerting Trump about the warrant for his “@realDonaldTrump” account.
The hearing transcript was part a collection of newly unsealed documents this week revealing tense closed-door courtroom showdowns between Smith’s office and Twitter – rebranded as X in July – over whether Trump should know about the warrant. Smith’s office obtained the warrant as part of its investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Twitter lost the fight to keep Trump in the dark and was eventually ordered to pay a US$350,000 fine for missing a deadline.
“Twitter has no interest other than litigating its constitutional rights, Your Honor,” the company’s lawyer George Varghese replied. Twitter argued the nondisclosure order violated the company’s First Amendment free speech rights, that Trump should have a chance to raise any executive privilege concerns, and that the government’s secrecy demand wasn’t rooted in legitimate concerns about protecting the investigation.
Bernstein said there were “concrete” reasons to think there would be “actual harm and concern for the investigation, for the witnesses” if Trump learned about the warrant. “Considering that Twitter was purchased for over US$40bil, and the sole owner is worth over US$180bil, a hefty fine is appropriate here,” the judge said.When the lawyers returned on Feb 9, Windom said his office’s conversations with Twitter’s attorneys over the past 48 hours, failed to inspire confidence the government was getting everything.
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