The long-drawn criminal investigation into President Donald Trump’s conduct while in office came to a dramatic end on Wednesday with a unanimous ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a district court judge’s decision to fine social media platform Twitter $350,000 for not promptly complying with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for records related to Trump’s account on the platform.
The defendant was formerly known as Twitter, which had initially refused to hand over records in protest. The company was found in contempt and ultimately handed over the records three days after a court-ordered deadline.
The court based its decision on the probability that the investigation could be compromised by giving the 45th president the “opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates.”
In its opinion, the appeals court noted that the government’s attempt to submit the papers through Twitter’s website was inoperative on January 17, 2023, and that Twitter was successfully served on the papers two days later.
When Twitter’s counsel was contacted later on, she reportedly said she was unaware of the warrant order. The court allowed Twitter to comply with the request if it handed over the records by 5 pm, but the company failed to do so.
Elon Musk, the head of Twitter, had previously purged over half of the company’s workforce shortly after taking over last October.
In response to the $350,000 fine, Twitter said in a statement that it “fully cooperated with the Special Counsel’s investigation and we are committed to protecting the privacy of our users and the rules of law.”
The special counsel’s office had formally charged former President Trump with four counts of misconduct. Subsequently, Trump was barred from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The staunch Trump supporter attempted to take up a new platform, Truth Social, but lately, he has been seen mostly utilizing Instagram to promote his limited edition digital trading card set.
His last post on Twitter, before officially being banned in late January 2021, was a now-ironic announcement of his plan to skip President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony.
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021
Following the appeals court ruling, Smith further charged Trump with a 40-count indictment over the alleged retention of classified documents, and a 34-count indictment out of Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records to hide hush money payments.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to all pending criminal cases against him, and has vehemently denied any wrongdoings.
