The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) in the Donald Trump warrant dispute case.
The appeal followed a search warrant obtained by prosecutors in the election interference case against the former U.S. President.
X argued that a nondisclosure order, which prevented the company from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team, violated its First Amendment rights. The social media company also claimed that Trump should have had the opportunity to assert executive privilege. X’s lawyers contended that, without intervention, the government could use similar tactics to intrude on other privileged communications.
Two nonpartisan electronic privacy groups supported the appeal, urging the high court to review the case on First Amendment grounds.
However, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal. The justices did not publicly explain their decision.
Prosecutors argued that executive privilege was irrelevant because the company had not shown that Trump used the account for official purposes. A lower court also ruled that informing Trump could have compromised the ongoing investigation.
Trump’s indictment stems from his use of Twitter in the weeks leading up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Prosecutors allege that Trump spread false claims about the election, intending to undermine public trust in the democratic process.
The indictment outlines how Trump used Twitter to encourage his supporters to come to Washington on January 6, pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification of the election, and falsely suggested that the violent mob at the Capitol was peaceful.
This case continues to progress, despite a Supreme Court ruling in July granting Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.
The warrant was issued during a period of significant upheaval at Twitter, after Musk purchased the platform in 2022 and laid off much of its staff, including teams responsible for combating misinformation and hate speech.
Following his acquisition of Twitter, Musk reinstated most banned users, including Trump, and has endorsed him in the 2024 presidential race.
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