(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Judiciary Committee wrote a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith on Thursday, demanding internal records related to his controversial search warrant that sought info on every Twitter account to like, follow or retweet former President Donald Trump—a sweeping act of domestic surveillance first exposed by Headline USA.
“We recently learned that you had compelled from Twitter voluminous amounts of private information—including core political speech—of millions of Americans, without an apparent specialized nexus to criminal activity,” House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said in their letter to Smith.
Jordan and Biggs were referencing facts exposed by Headline USA on Nov. 27, the same day the Justice Department’s warrant for Trump’s Twitter account was filed in a case titled “IN RE PRESS APPLICATION FOR ACCESS TO JUDICIAL RECORDS IN CASE NO. 23-SC-31, IN THE MATTER OF THE SEARCH OF INFORMATION THAT IS STORED AT PREMISES CONTROLLED BY TWITTER, INC.”
That warrant revealed that the DOJ took from Twitter “all lists of Twitter users who have favorited or retweeted tweets posted by [Trump], as well as all tweets that include the username associated with the account (i.e., mentions or replies)”—as well as other information.
Because the warrant was filed in a relatively obscure case—as opposed to any of the dockets of Trump’s criminal cases—Headline USA believes the warrant may have remained unpublicized if not for this publication’s reporting.
In any event, the revelation that the DOJ demanded such a vast trove of data on Trump’s Twitter fans became a GOP talking point immediately after Headline USA reported those facts.
— I,Hypocrite (@lporiginalg) November 29, 2023
Numerous outlets picked up the story, politicians discussed the issue and presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy even used the information as a talking point during a recent debate.
Vivek takes on Deep State at GOP debate for getting warrant for every American who has retweeted Trump, then UNLOADS on Nikki Haley for joining their forces by DEMANDING every American give-up their name online BY LAW 🔥
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 7, 2023
And now, the House Judiciary is investigating the overzealous warrant.
“Please provide the following information … All documents and communications referring or relating to the ‘Warrant by Telephone or Other Reliable Electronic Means,’” Jordan and Biggs asked Smith in their letter.
Jordan and Biggs also demanded records related to Smith’s appointment as Special Counsel. Their letter comes on the heels of former Attorney General Ed Meese and several other constitutional experts filing a Supreme Court brief that argues Smith was illegally appointed to his position.
Smith and Biggs gave Smith until Jan. 4 to respond to their demands for info. Noting that Smith has ignored previous requests, the legislators threatened compulsion.
“Please provide this material, as well as the material requested in our June 1, June 6, and September 7, 2023, letters—attached and incorporated herein— as soon as possible but no later than 5:00 p.m. on January 4, 2024,” they said. “If you do not produce documents responsive to these requests, the Committee may resort to compulsory process.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
