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Inadvertent Court Filing Suggests that the U.S. DoJ is Preparing to Indict Julian Assange
Prosecutors Have Prepared Indictment of Julian Assange, a Filing Reveals
The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, marking a drastic escalation of the government's yearslong battle with him and his anti-secrecy group. It was not clear if prosecutors have filed charges against Mr. Assange. The indictment came to light late Thursday through an unrelated court filing in which prosecutors inadvertently mentioned charges against him. "The court filing was made in error," said Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the United States attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia. "That was not the intended name for this filing."
[...] Seamus Hughes, a terrorism expert at George Washington University who closely tracks court cases, uncovered the filing and posted it on Twitter.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to say on Thursday what led to the inadvertent disclosure. It was made in a recently unsealed filing in an apparently unrelated sex-crimes case charging a man named Seitu Sulayman Kokayi with coercing and enticing an underage person to engage in unlawful sexual activity. Mr. Kokayi was charged in early August, and on Aug. 22, prosecutors filed a three-page document laying out boilerplate arguments for why his case at that time needed to remain sealed.
While the filing started out referencing Mr. Kokayi, federal prosecutors abruptly switched on its second page to discussing the fact that someone named "Assange" had been secretly indicted, and went on to make clear that this person was the subject of significant publicity, lived abroad and would need to be extradited — suggesting that prosecutors had inadvertently pasted text from a similar court filing into the wrong document and then filed it.
"Another procedure short of sealing will not adequately protect the needs of law enforcement at this time because, due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged," prosecutors wrote. They added, "The complaint, supporting affidavit, and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter."
#Vindicated.
Also at The Guardian, The Washington Post, MarketWatch, and The New Republic.
Previously: Prominent Whistleblowers and Journalists Defend Julian Assange at Online Vigil
Ecuador Reportedly Almost Ready to Hand Julian Assange Over to UK Authorities
DNC Serves WikiLeaks Lawsuit Over Twitter; US Senate Invites Assange to Testify for Russia Probe
The Guardian: Russian Diplomats Planned to Sneak Julian Assange Out of the UK
Julian Assange Sues Ecuador for "Violating His Fundamental Rights"
UK Said Assange Would Not be Extradited If He Leaves Embassy Refuge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @03:36AM (6 children)
What a partisan shill. The ruling class has been going after Assange for as long as he's been imprisoned in that embassy. Did you forget why he was in the embassy?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @04:36AM (4 children)
Or maybe, just maybe, he actually wasn't the angel he claimed to be and he played on the paranoia of the conspiracy-theory susceptible for the notoriety and to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. After all, not only did he go all inon the the seth rich lies in general he falsely implied that seth rich was the source for the stuff he got from russia just to keep his own name in the news. That's not the actions of a trustworthy person. So his credibility is in the shitter nowadays.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 17 2018, @07:13AM (3 children)
I don't believe Assange ever made any claims to being an angel. On at least two occassions, Assange did his thinking with his penis, which isn't very angelic.
Actually, what we have here, is confirmation that Assange was justifiably paranoid. The documents are there, confirming that the US is and/or was trying to extradite him. The documents also tend to confirm that all of the foreign governments involved have been less than open and honest.
WTF does your angel shit have to do with anything?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @02:06PM (2 children)
Dude you live some kind of alt-reality.
He literally claimed to have not used his penis to sexually assault two women. Its like the central narrative of his life for the last 10+ years. The fact that you have it exactly reversed is nutso. Of all the things you could have cited to "prove" he's a not a bad guy, you had to go to with that? Man you are dumb as a fucking rock.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 17 2018, @02:50PM
You must be American. There are no allegations of rape, or sexual assault, or anything of the nature. The allegation involves failure to use a condom when he went back for seconds. An impropriety, nothing more, it seems. Because we don't use terms and charges used over there, few of us understand any charge less than sexual assault.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @06:45PM
Stop insulting rocks!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @09:44AM
Because he was afraid to face questioning about sexual assault allegations so he skipped bail in the UK and sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy. Hiding out because he was afraid to face the music is not being "imprisoned".
Before you cry out "the charges were dropped!", yes they were. Yet assange ran and hid even though he claimed he was innocent. Would the US have tried to extradite him once he was back in Sweden? They may have. The US would have had to bring charges against Assange (which they never have) in order to attempt to extradite him. Assange releasing the DNC emails took place years after Assange took up permanent residence in the Ecuadorian embassy, and those charges were revealed in this court filing.