Newly revealed court documents show that Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant months ago for Donald Trump’s Twitter account, and the social media company was slapped with a fine when they delayed in their compliance.

The documents, obtained by Politico, show that Smith’s team of prosecutors went to Twitter in January with a search warrant for data and records pertaining to Trump’s account. The social platform now known as X initially resisted complying with the warrant, which led to them being fined $350,000.

The dispute primarily centered around a nondisclosure order included in the search warrant that would prohibit Twitter from disclosing the warrant’s existence to anyone. The reason for this order was concern that if Twitter told Trump about the search, it would have interfered with the investigation.

From the document:

The Act allows the government to seek a nondisclosure order, which directs service providers “not to notify any other person” of a warrant or order’s existence “for such period as the court deems appropriate.” Id. § 2705(b). A court “shall enter” such a nondisclosure order if “there is reason to believe that notification of the existence of the warrant” or order will result in one of five enumerated harms: “(1) endangering the life or physical safety of an individual; (2) flight from prosecution; (3) destruction of or tampering with evidence; (4) intimidation of potential witnesses; or (5) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an investigation or unduly delaying a trial.”

Twitter delayed producing Trump’s data as they protested the order, and they apparently wanted to tell Trump about the search warrant. The company wound up taking daily fines, and U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell sided with the prosecution’s pursuit of the non-disclosure.

“Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not fully produce the requested information until three days after a court-ordered deadline,” the document says. “The district court thus held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction for its delay.”

Watch above via CNN.

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