Special counsel obtained a trove of Trump's Twitter DMs, court filing reveals

Prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office won access to a trove of former President Donald Trump's Twitter direct messages from October 2020 to January 2021 under a search warrant executed in January, a newly unsealed court document revealed Tuesday. A lawyer for Twitter, now called X, told U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that the company had found both "deleted" and "nondeleted" DMs associated with Trump's account, and had given Smith's office "all direct messages, DMs," including those sent, received and "stored in draft form."
It's not publicly known what was in Trump's DMs, "of which there were many," CNN reported, or who wrote them. But that he even had private messages in his Twitter account is "a revelation," The New York Times added, since Trump "has famously been cautious about using written forms of communications in his dealings with aides and allies."
Trump is "famously known for not really emailing," but it's possible he was only "receiving private DMs coming in and maybe not sending them out," former federal prosecutor Ryan Goodman told CNN. The government "must have had probable cause" to obtain a warrant for that much information from Trump's account, for so many months, he added, and even if the DMs are only incoming, that's "still very valuable information."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The document unsealed Tuesday details the robust and unusual effort Twitter undertook to stop Smith's team from keeping the warrant secret from Trump. If Trump found out about the warrant, prosecutors argued, they had specific evidence it "would result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses or serious jeopardy to this investigation." Twitter lost the fight and was fined $350,000 for delaying compliance with the warrant, earlier court documents showed.
Smith's team charged Trump in August over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The indictment included several Trump tweets but not private communications, CNN noted. A spokesperson for Trump, asked for comment, pointed the Times to a statement the former president posted to his Truth Social account Monday, calling Smith a "lowlife" and questioning why he broke into his Twitter account. "What could he possibly find out that is not already known," he wrote.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorship
Talking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programs
The Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
Calls for both calm and consequences follow Kirk killing
TALKING POINTS The suspected assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk has some public figures pleading for restraint, while others agitate for violent reprisals
-
Why does Donald Trump keep showing up at major sporting events?
Today's Big Question Trump has appeared at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and other events
-
‘Democracy is under threat globally’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Former top FBI agents sue, claiming Trump purge
Speed Read The agents alleged they were targeted by a “campaign of retribution”
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
Judge lets Cook stay at Fed while appealing ouster
Speed Read Trump had attempted to fire Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race