The president’s running public commentary gives investigators real-time insight into the intent behind his actions – and could create problems for him or his aides.
President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed – packed with more than 35,000 time-stamped missives dating to 2009 – offers a treasure trove of evidence for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his growing team of investigators, according to lawyers and veterans of past White House scandals.
Like emails, handwritten notes or transcribed Oval Office conversations, the @realdonaldtrump account gives investigators a detailed timeline of Trump’s thoughts and opinions – including where they might differ from official accounts – and can also be used to establish intent, which can be critical in a criminal investigation.
Trump is not a target of the FBI or congressional probes, but his tweets could all be used by investigators as they seek to establish whether the president and his associates are being truthful in the explanations they give under oath about the nature of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. Trump’s tweets could ultimately cause problems for the people around Trump, including aides who sent messages under Trump’s account.
“They’re a gold mine,” said Peter Zeidenberg, who served on the Justice Department’s special prosecution team during the George W. Bush-era Valerie Plame Wilson investigation and now works as a partner at Arent Fox. “They help paint a picture.”
Trump’s attorneys have reportedly been trying to vet his tweets as the Russia probe gains steam, an attempt to harness the president’s uninhibited stream of political and policy punditry, biting put downs and other random asides that have upended all historic norms of White House communication.
So far, however, Trump has shown no indication he’s ready to hand over his phone. On Wednesday, the president criticized Democrats in a two–part tweet over a Fox News story suggesting they’d revoked an invitation for former campaign adviser Carter Page to testify.
In late March, Trump tweeted that his former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn “should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!”
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“There isn’t any reason why a tweet wouldn’t be treated like any other public statement. As long as it is properly attributed to the author and verified as such it would constitute a statement,” said former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste.
“They’re no different from emails or anything else,” added Forde.
White-collar lawyers and prosecution veterans say they have little doubt federal investigators were scouring Trump’s social media posts even before Mueller’s appointment last month.
“I’m sure they are,” said Zeidenberg. “That’s an easy one. All you need is a paralegal to pull all his tweets and post them up. It doesn’t require a subpoena.”
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“They’re a gold mine”: Trump's many tweets could be used by investigators in the Russia probe https://t.co/G5y2AnE7yE pic.twitter.com/pRyTFHZaFq
— POLITICO (@politico) June 2, 2017
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