Special counsel Jack Smith has obtained Donald Trump's cell phone data from his time in the White House and plans to use it as prosecutorial evidence as part of the former president's election subversion trial in D.C., a Monday filing shows.
In the court filing, Smith stated that he intends to present the expert witness who pulled and copied the data from Trump's phone and a phone from an unidentified MAGA ally. As noted in the filing, Smith's team anticipates that the expert will observe to jurors how they "extracted and processed data from the White House cell phones used by the defendant and one other individual (Individual 1); (2) reviewed and analyzed data on the defendant’s phone and on Individual 1’s phone, including analyzing images found on the phones and websites visited; (3) determined the usage of these phones throughout the post-election period, including on and around January 6, 2021; and (4) specifically identified the periods of time during which the defendant’s phone was unlocked and the Twitter application was open on January 6."
1/Jack Smith got into Trump's phone & the expert who did it will testify to “the usage of these phones throughout the post-election period, including on and around January 6, 2021,” when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol... https://t.co/GK8KZG60RY
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) December 11, 2023
As Politico noted, the extent of access Smith had to the ex-president's phone has yet to be discerned; however, the data could prove pivotal in revealing certain key information from around the time of Jan 6, when the deadly Capitol insurrection took place. Chiefly, the data could show Trump's social media activity, as well as who had access to his personal accounts and devices.
The filing also stated Smith also plans to call two other experts to the witness stand to share critical information relevant to Trump's phone data. Expert 1 will discuss location data, as "they plotted the location history data for Google accounts and devices associated with individuals who moved, on January 6, 2021, from an area at or near the Ellipse to an area encompassing the United States Capitol building." Their testimony will "describe and explain the resulting graphical representations of that data, and it will aid the jury in understanding the movements of individuals toward the Capitol area during and after the defendant’s speech at the Ellipse."
Expert 2 will likely testify about "the process of determining device location; the collection and use of location history data by Google, LLC; and location history data produced in response to a search warrant and included in the graphical representation prepared by Expert 1," the filing states, adding that "they will aid the jury in understanding the movements of individuals toward the Capitol area during and after the defendant’s speech at the Ellipse."
In January, Smith's team of prosecutors secured a search warrant for Trump's X/Twitter account, asking the company to keep the information secret from the former president. Trump was suspended from Twitter in the days following the Capitol insurrection. Though his account has since been reinstated, he seemingly no longer uses the platform, electing to post instead from his TruthSocial platform.
