Newly released court documents have revealed that federal investigators successfully obtained a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Twitter account as part of their investigation into his actions after the 2020 election. The documents, which were unsealed on Wednesday, showed that Twitter initially resisted the warrant, resulting in the social media platform being held in civil contempt. The US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, upheld a $350,000 fine against Twitter for failing to comply with the warrant in a timely manner.

The warrant specifically sought materials related to Trump's @realDonaldTrump social media profile, which was his platform of choice before he was banned from Twitter and other social media platforms following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The court filings revealed that Twitter did eventually comply with the warrant, but not until three days after a court-ordered deadline.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who has twice indicted Trump, obtained the search warrant for the Twitter account on January 17, 2023. The warrant was part of Smith's investigation into Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The court records showed that Twitter objected to a nondisclosure order that prohibited them from sharing the existence of the warrant or its contents. Twitter withheld the production of data and records while challenging the order.

A district court rejected Twitter's objections and set a new deadline for the company to produce the requested information. Twitter missed the deadline, leading to the court imposing sanctions and holding the platform in contempt. Eventually, Twitter fully produced the requested information, but the details of what was handed over about Trump's account were not immediately clear.

The appeals court sided with the lower court, upholding the fine and the contempt ruling against Twitter. The court order revealed that the government initially faced difficulties when trying to serve Twitter with the warrant and nondisclosure order due to technical issues with the website. However, they successfully served the company two days later. Twitter's counsel claimed to have not heard anything about the warrant when contacted by the government on January 25, 2023.

The news of the search warrant comes after a federal grand jury recently indicted Trump for his alleged role in conspiring to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Trump has denied the charges and claimed they are an attempt to derail his potential presidential candidacy. In response to the news of the warrant, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to criticize the Department of Justice and accuse them of attacking his civil rights.

The unsealed court documents shed new light on the extent of the special counsel's investigation into Trump's actions after the 2020 election. The fact that prosecutors obtained a search warrant for his Twitter account suggests they were interested in nonpublic aspects of his communications. The warrant, which was obtained in January, was kept secret from Trump for months to prevent him from potentially tampering with evidence.

Overall, the unsealed court documents reveal the legal battle between federal investigators and Twitter over the search warrant for Trump's Twitter account. Despite Twitter's initial resistance, the platform was ultimately held in contempt and fined for failing to fully comply with the warrant in a timely manner. This development provides further insight into the ongoing investigations into Trump's actions after the 2020 election and his subsequent ban from social media platforms.