DOJ Slaps Elon Musk With HUGE Fine After He Refuses To Turn This Over...

The warrant was part of an investigation into Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. However, Twitter, now known as X under owner Elon Musk, refused to provide the requested information.

The search warrant was accompanied by a nondisclosure order, which prohibited X from disclosing the existence or contents of the warrant. Initially, X delayed the production of the required materials and attempted to challenge the nondisclosure order through litigation, but these objections were unsuccessful.

Although X eventually complied with the warrant and handed over the requested information, it did so three days after the deadline. As a result, the district court held X in contempt and imposed a fine of $350,000. These details emerged during an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which upheld a lower court's ruling on the case.

The court ruling stated, "In sum, we affirm the district court's rulings in all respects. The district court properly rejected Twitter's First Amendment challenge to the nondisclosure order. Moreover, the district court acted within the bounds of its discretion to manage its docket when it declined to stay its enforcement of the warrant while the First Amendment claim was litigated.

August 10, 2023

Finally, the district court followed the appropriate procedures before finding Twitter in contempt of court - including giving Twitter an opportunity to be heard and a chance to purge its contempt to avoid sanctions. Under the circumstances, the court did not abuse its discretion when it ultimately held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction."

In its appeal, X argued that the nondisclosure order violated the First Amendment and the Stored Communications Act. X also contended that the district court should have issued a stay on the enforcement of the search warrant until the objections to the nondisclosure order were resolved.