WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal brought by Elon Musk’s social media company X to determine whether prosecutors should have been able to obtain data from former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account without notice. refused.
The incident arose as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Trump over allegations of 2020 election interference, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the president could face broader charges for official conduct while in office. The court ruled that immunity was granted and blocked the investigation. The court left the ruling in favor of the prosecution intact.
After Musk’s acquisition of the social media company, Twitter Inc., as it is now known, Smith already has access to the data at issue in Mr.
But Mr. X’s lawyers said the Supreme Court should intervene to prevent prosecutors from taking similar actions in the future without informing those involved that the data was being handed over to the government. Trump himself was not involved in the incident.
Lawyers said in court documents that Trump, among other things, could not make any claims about how the material in question would be protected because of his role as president. They claim that the secrecy order violated X’s right to free speech.
The case dates back to January last year, when the government sought a warrant under a law known as the Preservation of Communications Act as part of its investigation into Smith. A federal judge approved the warrant and a secrecy order prohibiting X from speaking to Mr. Trump or anyone else about the matter. Smith’s team had argued that if the warrants were made public, evidence could be destroyed or tampered with.
X initially resisted, but was subsequently slapped with a civil penalty worth $350,000 before agreeing to comply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the district court’s decision. During the lawsuit, Smith agreed that he could notify Trump about the warrant.