We learned last week that Special Counsel Jack Smith definitely got Donald Trump's DMs from his defunct Twitter account, but now we're getting court transcripts showing how it went down.

It was back in February when lawyers for Twitter appeared in Washington before a federal judge to argue about why they needed to turn over private message from Donald Trump's once very active Twitter account. These were demanded under a search warrant by U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith during the inquiry that led to Trump's third indictment of the year to date, relating to his actions leading up to January 6th and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

As Bloomberg reports, via newly unsealed court transcripts, Twitter's lawyers and lawyers for the Department of Justice appeared on February 7 before U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, at which point Twitter was ordered to turn over the date from Trump's account, and ordered to keep this secret so Trump would not find out.

The lawyers were then back in court on February 9, two days later, with Twitter pushing back on the order, and they eventually lost the fight and were ordered to pay a $350,000 fine for missing a deadline in the order.

At the first hearing, per Bloomberg, Judge Howell asked about Twitter's objections. "Is it because the CEO wants to cozy up with the former president, and that’s why you are here?” she asked, referring to Elon Musk.

Later, Howell asked, “Is this to make Donald Trump feel like he is a particularly welcomed new renewed user of Twitter here?”

Twitter attorney George Varghese replied, "Twitter has no interest other than litigating its constitutional rights, Your Honor."

Howell further told Twitter's lawyers that their combative stance in the case set a bad precedent for other tech companies who might want to "frustrate" the legal process when such data gets subpoena'd.

The fine, which amounted to $50,000 per day of noncompliance with the court order, Judge Howell said was necessary to deter any further delays in "matters of vital national importance." Per Bloomberg, she added, "Considering that Twitter was purchased for over $40 billion, and the sole owner is worth over $180 billion, a hefty fine is appropriate here."

They were back in court on February 9 because the DOJ believed Twitter still had not turned over everything they were seeking.

Twitter continued to appeal their fine, and Howell's orders, though they apparently complied and turned over the data — which, reportedly, includes any messages Trump may have tried to delete after the fact.

We still don't know what, if anything, the DOJ found in Trump's non-public Twitter messages. But in a March 3 opinion, Judge Howell said there was "ample good reason" for the nondisclosure order relating to this data handover.

Trump was ultimately indicted on August 1, based on the evidence collected by the Special Counsel's office. He has been charged in federal court with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official government proceeding, and conspiracy to deprive the American people of the right to have their votes counted.

Related: Special Counsel Got Search Warrant For Trump's Twitter Account, and Twitter Fought It