Three expert witnesses could be called on to testify about data from President Trump’s phone usage post-2020 election, per a court filing.
Special counsel Jack Smith has revealed plans that he may present data analysts to comment on then-President Donald Trump’s White House cellphone and Twitter data in a forthcoming Washington, D.C., trial in the federal election case.
In a court filing on Monday, Mr. Smith outlined the government’s intention to call up to three expert witnesses to testify in the case, in which President Trump is charged with four counts related to his post-election efforts to challenge the process and results of the 2020 election.
The filing provides a glimpse into how prosecutors plan to use the mountains of data obtained under warrant from X, then Twitter, about President Trump’s account, including location data.
“The government has provided its Notice of Expert Witnesses to the defendant,” reads the filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which outlines each expert’s area of expertise and expected testimony.
The experts will use the data to paint a picture of how President Trump used his phones, including use of the Twitter app, “throughout the post-election period” and on Jan. 6, 2021, after the president’s speech to his supporters at the Ellipse before the breach of the U.S. Capitol, according to the filing.
The experts, referred to as Expert 1, Expert 2, and Expert 3, are anticipated to “aid the jury” in understanding the data, and how it has been visually presented on a map after being extracted from the White House phones of President Trump and another unidentified individual close to him.
The data is expected to be key in “understanding the movements of individuals toward the Capitol area during and after the defendant’s speech at the Ellipse.”
However, the move could be found to fall short of directly implicating President Trump, whose phones were routinely managed by others, including his social media manager, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
