Jack Smith convinced judge that Trump 'presents a significant risk of tampering with evidence': documents

Special counsel Jack Smith earlier this year convinced Judge Beryl Howell that former President Donald Trump should not know about a subpoena for his Twitter account data on the grounds that he "presents a significant risk of tampering with evidence."

As reported by Politico's Kyle Cheney, Smith argued to Howell that letting Trump know about the warrant could "precipitate violence" and lead to Trump engaging in "obstructive conduct" aimed at derailing the investigation.

In making their case to Howell, Smith and his team of attorneys cited Trump's conduct after losing the 2020 presidential election as evidence that he was liable to commit crimes in order to hide evidence from investigators.

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"Following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, the former President propagated false claims of fraud (including swearing to false allegations in a federal court filing), pressured state and federal officials to violate their legal duties, and retaliated against those who did not comply with his demands, culminating in violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6," they wrote.

Smith's attorneys also cited Trump being "determined to pay the legal fees of potential witnesses against him" and his "repeatedly [disparaging] the lead prosecutor on his Truth Social platform" as evidence that he should be kept in the dark about the warrant.

This was enough to convince Howell.

"The Court finds reasonable grounds to believe that such disclosure will result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and serious jeopardy to the investigation," the judge wrote, according to The Messenger.