Federal appeals court rejects Trump petition over Special Counsel Jack Smith access to Twitter feed

A federal appeals court has rejected former President Trump’s request to block Special Counsel Jack Smith from accessing his Twitter feed, as part of his election interference case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington D.C. ruled on the matter and denied further review. The decision comes after an appellate panel had rejected Trump’s original request. 

Donald Trump and Jack Smith

“Upon consideration of appellant’s petition for rehearing en banc, the response thereto, the amicus curiae brief filed by Electronic Frontier Foundation in support of rehearing en banc, and the absence of a request by any member of the court for a vote, it is ordered that the petition be denied,” the ruling states.

The former president and 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner can now ask the Supreme Court to review the matter. 

Smith plans to use data from the cell phone former President Trump used in his final weeks in office — including data revealing when Trump’s phone was “unlocked and the Twitter application was open” on Jan. 6, 2021.

Unsealed court filings in August showed that Smith’s team obtained location data and draft tweets in addition to the former president’s messages.

Attorneys for the company, now named X Corp., attempted to block and delay the effort in January and February, leading one federal judge to speculate that X owner and one-time CEO Elon Musk was attempting to ally himself with Trump.

The social media giant ultimately lost the struggle, however, and was forced to hand over an extensive list of data related to the “@realdonaldtrump” account, including all tweets “created, drafted, favorited/liked, or retweeted.”

The handover also included searches on the platform surrounding the 2020 election, devices used to log into the account, IP addresses used to log into the account, and a list of associated accounts.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.