On January 17, 2023, the district court issued a search warrant directing Twitter, Inc., to produce information related to the account @realDonaldTrump, together with a nondisclosure order. The D.C. Circuit later described those facts in a redacted published opinion after Twitter appealed a contempt sanction. The circuit identified the district judge’s orders and the $350,000 civil contempt fine for a three-day delay past a court-ordered production deadline.
The district court, on an ex parte affidavit, found probable cause to search the account for evidence of criminal offenses in the January 6 investigation and found “reasonable grounds to believe” that disclosing the warrant to the former President would seriously jeopardize the investigation. Twitter challenged the nondisclosure order, delayed production, then complied late. Howell denied the motion to vacate the gag and imposed the fine. The D.C. Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court later declined to take the case.
A search warrant plus a gag is a court order. It is not a finding that Donald Trump committed a crime. Stefanik’s later ethics letter characterized the warrant as “stunningly broad.” That characterization is her allegation, on the Stefanik post.