(UnitedVoice.com) – Americans all have an inalienable right to say what they want as long it doesn’t promote violence. The First Amendment applies to their activity on social media as well. However, the special counsel in the case against former President Donald Trump made a shocking request.
In August, news broke that Special Counsel Jack Smith had obtained a search warrant for records related to Trump’s account on X, formerly Twitter. Elon Musk’s company was supposed to turn over the documents requested. The company missed the deadline and received a fine of more than $350,000.
News of the search warrant caused outrage over the summer but died down. Now, it’s back in the news again, after the Department of Justice released the heavily redacted subpoena. According to Newsweek, the subpoena asked for “lists of [X] users who have favorited or retweeted” Trump’s posts and “all tweets that include the username associated with the account,” including the replies and mentions.
Smith also requested a list of the devices he used to log into the account, personal information, and data on who he blocked, followed, unfollowed, and muted. He wanted all of the “content, records, and other information” relating to Trump’s interactions with other users on the platform from October 2020 to January 2021.
The records were related to the investigation against Trump in the election subversion case. He’s been charged with four felonies for his alleged actions after he lost the election in November 2020.
Social media users responded to the request for information with outrage. The consensus was that Smith violated the rights of the American people by seeking information related to those who were interacting with the former president.
@SpeakerJohnson violation of privacy and 1st amendment rights… just what are you doing to subpoena JACK SMITH to appear before the House. He's now asking for X information involving any U.S. Citizen that "liked" @realDonaldTrump 's tweets. Is the USA or am I living in a…
— Geri Ricci (@RicciGeri) November 30, 2023
Collin Rugg, the co-founder of Trending Politics, called Smith the “Enemy of the people” because of the subpoena request.
REPORT: The Department of 'Justice' demanded that Twitter (X) hand over a list of users who engaged with Donald Trump's posts in relation to Jack Smith's J6 investigation.
This means many of you may have been targeted.
Smith demanded Twitter provide data on "all lists of… pic.twitter.com/YSiW6XsV0a
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 29, 2023
It’s not clear if Musk ever complied with the subpoena.
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