Former federal prosecutors Renato Mariotti and Joyce Vance are both commenting this week on a thread that examines Elon Musk‘s actions to protect Donald Trump from federal prosecutors seeking information about the former President’s Twitter usage, which they say goes beyond normal protections Twitter offers users.
Recent reporting reveals that Twitter (now X) went to court to pursue the right to expose Special Counsel Jack Smith’s pursuit of Trump’s Twitter data by notifying Trump himself, a notification which federal prosecutors had characterized as a danger to the investigation.
Politico reporter Kyle Cheney characterized Twitter’s legal effort, financed by the Musk-owned company while its owner complained of a dire financial situation at the company, with this summary: “Twitter pleaded to inform Trump about a search warrant in a way that it apparently never did in its 17-year existence with any other user. It did this despite having no knowledge of the basis for the warrant or nondisclosure order.”
Cheney’s report reveals that “U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell held Twitter (now known as X) in contempt of court in February, fining the company $350,000 for missing a court-ordered deadline to comply with Smith’s search warrant.”
The bottom line: Twitter pleaded to inform Trump about a search warrant in a way that it apparently never did in its 17-year existence with any other user. It did this despite having no knowledge of the basis for the warrant or nondisclosure order. https://t.co/vdhI6YrskP
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 16, 2023
Mariotti commented that “Elon Musk hired expensive lawyers to fight a lawful search warrant to defend Donald Trump’s interests,” noting that “Twitter receives court orders like this regularly, and doesn’t spend that kind of money to fight them on behalf of customers.”
Elon Musk hired expensive lawyers to fight a lawful search warrant to defend Donald Trump’s interests.
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 16, 2023
Twitter receives court orders like this regularly, and doesn’t spend that kind of money to fight them on behalf of customers.
Why the special treatment for Trump, @elonmusk? https://t.co/bNxYn6o69W
Vance, a U.S. Attorney during the Obama administration, writes: “This thread is fascinating-confirming prosecutors got high value from DMs, location info, etc. It suggests the govt had a close informant who gave them the PC they needed to get into the account & who they were strenuously protecting from Twitter’s efforts to disclose to Trump.”
This thread is fascinating-confirming prosecutors got high value from DMs, location info, etc. It suggests the govt had a close informant who gave them the PC they needed to get into the account & who they were strenuously protecting from Twitter's efforts to disclose to Trump. https://t.co/AK2TKA5qe6
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) August 16, 2023
The DMs in question are Trump’s direct messages — private communications using the platform’s technology that aren’t accessible or visible to anyone besides the parties involved in sending and receiving them.
