Newly released court documents show that Twitter, now known as X, was held in contempt of court and fined $350,000 after delaying US special counsel access to Donald Trump’s account.

The documents, published by this week by US non-profit publication Lawfare, reveal that Jack Smith-led special counsel obtained a search warrant into the former president’s account as part of its investigation into Trump’s possible role in the capitol riots of 6 January 2021, for which he has recently been indicted.

According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, X delayed access after raising First Amendment concerns over the warrant, stating it wanted to first notify Trump about the probe.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the federal trial judge's decision over fining X, with the conclusion in its document stating that under the circumstances, the court “did not abuse its discretion when it ultimately held Twitter in contempt”.

Following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden, a barrage of his supporters mobbed the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., resulting in the death of a police officer and four Trump supporters.

Elon Musk recently vowed to sue any company and pay the legal bills of users who have seen their employment status impacted by their activity on the social media site.

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