Newly released court documents have provided detailed information about the legal battle between federal investigators and Twitter over a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Twitter account. The documents, unsealed on Wednesday, revealed that federal investigators obtained a search warrant as part of their investigation into Trump's actions after the 2020 election. The warrant specifically sought materials related to Trump's @realDonaldTrump social media profile, which was his preferred platform before his ban from Twitter and other social media platforms following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

According to the court filings, Twitter initially resisted the warrant, leading to 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 its failure to comply with the warrant in a timely manner. 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.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who has twice indicted Trump, obtained the search warrant for the Twitter account on January 17, 2023, as part of his investigation into Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The court documents revealed that Twitter eventually complied with the warrant, but not until three days after a court-ordered deadline. 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 disclosed that the government initially faced difficulties serving 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 shortly after a federal grand jury indicted Trump for his alleged involvement in conspiring to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Trump has denied the charges, asserting that they are an attempt to undermine his potential presidential candidacy. In response to the warrant, Trump criticized the Department of Justice and accused them of attacking his civil rights on his new social media platform, Truth Social.

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

Overall, the unsealed court documents provide insight into 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 its failure to fully comply with the warrant in a timely manner. This development offers further understanding of the ongoing investigations into Trump's actions after the 2020 election and his subsequent ban from social media platforms.