Special counsel planning to use Trump White House cellphone data in election interference case

Special counsel Jack Smith plans to call witnesses who have analyzed data extracted from former President Trump’s cellphone, including one who can weigh in on his Twitter habits and another who has analyzed the movement of the Jan. 6, 2021, crowd following Trump’s speech that day.

The Monday filing is the first indication of how Smith plans to use a massive tranche of information gathered from Trump’s account on Twitter, the social media network now known as X, following a secret court battle to secure access to the account.

Prosecutors in the election interference case also extracted data from Trump’s White House cell phone, and that of an aide, described in the filing only as “Individual 1.”

The expert, who is unnamed in the court filing, reviewed how Trump and the aide used their phone throughout the post-election period, and has “specifically identified the periods of time during which the defendant’s phone was unlocked and the Twitter application was open on Jan. 6.”

It’s unclear the extent of the information prosecutors have from Trump’s phone, though the filing says the expert analyzed “images found on the phones and websites visited.”

But it’s possible the expert could provide greater insight into Trump’s posting of a tweet attacking then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Another expert prosecutors plan to bring in for testimony will analyze how a crowd of Trump’s supporters moved in response to his call to march toward the Capitol.

The expert “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 review “will aid the jury in understanding the movements of individuals toward the Capitol area during and after the defendant’s speech at the Ellipse.”

Trump is set to face trial March 4 on four counts related to his efforts to subvert the transfer of power.