Garland’s use of the DOJ for Biden’s political benefit is atrocious. Now he may be getting what he deserves.
Because Merrick Garland’s job is on the line after this massive bombshell dropped.
In the days leading up to the January 6 U.S. Capitol hack, the Department of Justice appeared to have gathered information on anyone who liked, followed, or retweeted Donald Trump’s X account, among other acts related to the former president’s social media.
X, formerly known as Twitter, was served with a search warrant earlier this year as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election and events in the nation’s capital just before Congress certified Joe Biden as the next president in 2021.
However, after multiple media sites filed a lawsuit to obtain the document and other relevant records, federal investigators gathered a vast trove of data from individuals who interacted with Trump’s personal X account from October 2020 to January 2021, according to the search warrant unsealed on Monday.
“All information from the ‘Connect’ or ‘Notifications’ tab for the account, including all lists of Twitter users who have favorited or retweeted tweets posted by the account, as well as all tweets that include the username associated with the account (i.e. ‘mentions’ or ‘replies’),” the warrant reads.
The 14-page document, half of which has been redacted, has been criticized by American individuals as an Orwellian nightmare, a violation of their constitutional right to free speech, and a breach of privacy.
Smith’s warrant also requested access to Trump’s X search history, including drafts posts, blocks, mutes, and direct messages, as well as a list of all devices used to log in or access the account.
“The content of all direct messages sent from, received by, stored in draft form in, or otherwise associated” with the former president’s account, and the users Trump “has followed, unfollowed, muted, unmuted, blocked, or unblocked, and all users who have followed, unfollowed, muted, unmuted, blocked, or unblocked,” the search warrant lists.
According to reports, the warrant contained a nondisclosure order requiring X authorities to keep Trump in the dark about the search. According to the New York Post, the social media corporation first resisted the order, alleging that the demand violated the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act in a failed court battle.
The corporation was fined $350,000 as a result of the delay.
In another heavily redacted document released on Monday, the Justice Department argued that the nondisclosure order “was granted based on facts demonstrating that notifying the former president would result in the destruction or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, or other serious jeopardy to an investigation or delay of trial.”
“For what appears to be the first time in its history, Twitter Inc. (‘Twitter’) has filed a motion to vacate or modify an order that it not disclose the existence of a search warrant,” Smith said.
Later, he added that “there is reason to believe notification to the former president, a sophisticated actor with an expansive platform, would result in a statutorily cognizable harm.”
Trump was charged earlier this year with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing a congressional proceeding, and conspiracy against rights in connection with his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Trump has pled not guilty to all of the charges leveled against him.
In August, he responded to the search order on his Truth Social account, blasting the special counsel for requesting material from his prior X account.
“How dare lowlife prosecutor, Deranged Jack Smith, break into my former Twitter account without informing me and, indeed, trying to completely hide this atrocity from me,” Trump said.
“What could he possibly find out that is not already known.”
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
