Special counsel reveals plans to use Trump’s phone data at trial

On Monday, special counsel Jack Smith indicated that he would summon expert three witnesses to testify in Donald Trump’s trial regarding his attempts to rig the 2020 election.

Here are the details of the news.

Special counsel reveals plans to use Trump’s phone data at trial

According to Smith, These witnesses may be able to provide evidence about how the January 6 rioters went into the Capitol as a result of the former president’s tweets.

To show the jury in Washington, D.C., the special counsel will call Expert 3, who will testify how Donald Trump utilized the phone in the weeks leading up to his effort to rig the 2020 election.

The testimony will also include details such as which websites were visited and the usage of the Twitter account on January 6.

However, the scope of Smith’s access to Trump’s phone is unknown. Smith stated in the filing that he used the data to view pictures, websites, and places.

It needs to be clarified if he could read the content of Trump’s conversations or if anything was kept private because of executive privilege or other restrictions.

In January, prosecutors obtained a search warrant to examine Trump’s Twitter account, resulting in the acquisition of a sizable cache of data, including location data, extracted from the account.”

However, it doesn’t go so far as to assert that the experts will be able to demonstrate that Trump was directly involved in the phone activities.

Dan Scavino, the deputy chief of staff, was one of the people who frequently handled Trump’s phone and social media.

The data extracted from Trump’s phone will provide insight into his daily tasks and handling during his final weeks in office

The information may clarify if Trump personally authorized or disapproved of the critical tweet he sent during the Capitol incident on January 6, criticizing his vice president, Mike Pence.

In the expert’s evaluation, “images found on the phones and websites visited” were also analyzed. Jurors will hear the expert’s account of “the usage of these phones throughout the post-election period, including on and around January 6, 2021,” when Trump followers invaded the Capitol following Trump’s call for them to fight to “stop the steal.”

Smith’s expert testimony is the first indication of how he intends to use a vast amount of information concerning Trump’s usage of his influential account that prosecutors have retrieved from Twitter.

According to Smith’s filings, the expert—whose identity is withheld has “specifically identified the periods of time during which the defendant’s phone was unlocked and the Twitter application was open on January 6.”

With testimony from numerous of Trump’s closest advisors and staffers, including former Vice President Mike Pence, this filing also offers the most recent look at the astounding amount of evidence Smith has gathered for his investigation.