If it's a male, do we say, Warlock Hunt instead of Witch Hunt?
Carl Jarvis
On 11/27/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Judge Delays Decision Whether to Unseal Assange Criminal ComplaintIf it's a male, do we say, Warlock Hunt instead of Witch Hunt?
November 27, 2018
A hearing was held in Alexandria, Virginia on Tuesday on a motion to make
public the sealed U.S. charges against Julian Assange. Joe Lauria, editor
of Consortium News, was in the courtroom and filed this report.
By Joe Lauria
in Alexandria, Virginia
Special to Consortium News
A decision whether to unseal U.S. government charges against Julian Assange
was delayed for a week by Judge Leonie Brinkema in the United States
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday.
In her comments to the court, Judge Brinkema appeared to be siding with the
government's argument that there is no legal precedent for the release of a
criminal complaint or indictment in a case before an arrest is made.
However, Katie Townsend, a lawyer for the Reporters Committee for Freedom
of
the Press, which filed an application to "unseal criminal prosecution of
Julian Assange," told the court that the government's inadvertent
revelation
of charges against the WikiLeaks publisher should prompt the court to
release the complaint.
Federal courthouse in Alexandria, VA where hearing took place.
The government says it mistakenly included a passage referring to Assange
in
a totally unrelated case. The passage was reported this month in the press
and was read in full by Judge Brinkema in court. It says the government
considered alternatives to sealing, but that any 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."
The paragraph goes on to say that the "complaint, supporting affidavit, and
arrest warrant, as well as this motion and 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."
As additional evidence that the government was pursuing WikiLeaks, Townsend
also cited the Jan. 2017 intelligence "assessment" that Russia had
interfered in the 2016 election in which WikiLeaks is blamed for playing a
role; congressional testimony from former FBI Director James Comey that the
bureau had an "intense focus" on WikiLeaks; then CIA Director Mike Pompeo's
claim that WikiLeaks was "hostile, non-state intelligence service;" and the
naming of WikiLeaks as "Organization 1" in the government's indictment of
Russian intelligence agents for allegedly interfering in the election.
But Assistant US Attorney Gordon Kromberg argued that the government has
never said it was investigating Assange, only WikiLeaks and those leaking
to
it. He said further that it was "speculation" that there are already
charges
against Assange based on anonymous press sources, even though the
mistakenly
published paragraph clearly speaks of the "fact that Assange has been
charged."
Kromberg argued that the government could neither confirm nor deny that the
passage relates to Julian Assange, nor could confirm or deny that he has
been charged because to do so would admit Assange's status, which the state
contends must remain secret.
Judge Brinkema agreed that it was an "assumption" and "hypothetical" that
the WikiLeaks founder has already been charged. But she asked Kromberg in
court what "compelling" rationale there was to keep Assange's status secret
after the government's inadvertent release.
Kromberg said he could not discuss in public the specifics in this case
regarding sealing.
Judge Brinkema then listed the general reasons why indictments and
complaints remain sealed before an arrest is made: to prevent a suspect
from fleeing, from destroying or tampering with evidence, from pressuring
potential witnesses, from being prepared to harm arresting officers and
also
to protect against alerting other defendants that might be named in a
complaint or indictment.
Assange, however, is purposely not fleeing from the Ecuador Embassy in
London as he fears he will be arrested by British authorities and
extradited
to the United States. It is highly unlikely he is armed and could harm
arresting officers, who could enter the sovereign territory of Ecuador only
with that government's permission. Assange could possibly have alleged
evidence on a laptop and others could be named in the complaint.
The judge then asked Townsend to name any case in which a judge had ordered
the government to release criminal charges before an arrest was made.
Kromberg had argued that there was none. Townsend requested a few days to
respond.
Judge Brinkema gave both parties a week to make further submissions to the
court.
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former correspondent
for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Sunday Times of London and
numerous other newspapers. He can be reached at
joelauria@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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