During special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump over his alleged election subversion, Smith issued a warrant to Twitter, now known as X, to turn over all the direct messages to and from the @realDonaldTrump account from October 2020 to January 2021. At first, X, which by that point had already been acquired by Elon Musk, dragged its feet to comply, according to a brief that was unsealed on Friday but was initially filed in May.
A similar conflict took place under President Richard Nixon when the General Services Administration attempted to take custody of the tape recordings made in the Oval Office during the infamous Watergate investigation. At that time as well, the Nixon administration argued that having to relinquish the tapes would “impermissibly interfere with candid communication of views by Presidential advisers.
While X attempted to use Nixon's argument to fight the warrant, Smith and his team argued that it would be"a minuscule proportion of the total production" as only 32 messages were received and sent in those four months. Eventually, X complied with the warrant on Feb. 9, but a month later was issued a $350,000 sanction and held in contempt of court for not fulfilling the warrant in a timely manner.
The former president entered a not guilty plea last month in the case before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Trump is charged with four felony counts relating to an alleged scheme to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. Chutkan decided on a trial date of March 4, 2024.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: HuffPostWomen - 🏆 27. / 68 Read more »
Source: CBSNews - 🏆 87. / 68 Read more »
Source: clevelanddotcom - 🏆 301. / 63 Read more »
Source: FoxNews - 🏆 9. / 87 Read more »
Source: WashTimes - 🏆 235. / 63 Read more »