The room was locked when prosecutors from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office and lawyers from the company then known as Twitter appeared Feb. 9 before a federal judge in Washington.
The secrecy was needed to prevent word from reaching the subject of the court fight: former U.S. President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell was concerned that the parties were already back two days after they’d argued before her. On Feb. 7, she’d rejected Twitter’s request for a delay in giving records to the government. The social media company had asked for more time to fight an order stopping them from alerting Trump about the warrant for his "@realDonaldTrump” account.