Jack Smith admits he included inaccurate info when asking judge to hide Trump Twitter warrant

Special counsel Jack Smith has admitted that his office included inaccurate information when requesting that a judge issue a nondisclosure order to prevent former President Donald Trump from learning his office had obtained a warrant for his Twitter account.

Reports emerged on Thursday that Smith's team had secured a search warrant in January for materials related to Trump's account. In seeking a non-disclosure order to prevent the company from informing Trump, however, Smith's office inaccurately suggested Trump himself would have been a flight risk should he learn of the warrant.

"The district court also found reason to believe that the former President would 'flee from prosecution,'" reads a decision from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals that the Epoch Times reviewed. "The government later acknowledged, however, that it had 'errantly included flight from prosecution as a predicate' in its application" for the non-disclosure order."

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell granted the warrant and the nondisclosure order. The appeals court ruling upheld his decision. Howell's original order is not public, though the appellate court indicated he felt there was reason to believe Trump's awareness of the warrant could undercut the investigation by allowing him to obstruct it.

Howell evidently agreed with the erroneous elements claiming Trump would be a flight risk, though the appeals court determined that consideration was not the definitive reason for his granting the nondisclosure order.

The revelation follows an unrelated admission from Smith that his team had incorrectly claimed that surveillance footage it included as evidence in the Trump classified documents case had been provided to defense counsel for review.

"The Government’s representation at the July 18 hearing that all surveillance footage the Government had obtained pre-indictment had been produced was therefore incorrect," prosecutors admitted in early August.

Smith is pursuing separate cases against Trump, one related to his efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results and the other pertaining to his alleged mishandling of classified materials.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.