Obama Administration Officials Study WikiLeaks Prosecution

U.S. Prosecutors Study WikiLeaks Prosecution
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
December 7, 2010

The Justice Department, in considering whether and how it might indict Julian Assange, is looking beyond the Espionage Act of 1917 to other possible offenses, including conspiracy or trafficking in stolen property, according to officials familiar with the investigation.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. acknowledged this week that there were problems with the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law that says the unauthorized possession and dissemination of information related to national defense is illegal. But he also hinted that prosecutors were looking at other statutes with regard to Mr. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

“I don’t want to get into specifics here, but people would have a misimpression if the only statute you think that we are looking at is the Espionage Act,” Mr. Holder said Monday at a news conference. “That is certainly something that might play a role, but there are other statutes, other tools that we have at our disposal.”

A government official familiar with the investigation said that treating WikiLeaks different from newspapers might be facilitated if investigators found any evidence that Mr. Assange aided the leaker, who is believed to be a low-level Army intelligence analyst — for example, by directing him to look for certain things and providing technological assistance.

Meanwhile, according to another government official familiar with the investigation, Justice Department officials have also examined whether Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks could be charged with trafficking in stolen government property.

Read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/world/08leak.html?_r=1&ref=world

To be a hypocrite you have to pretend to be for the moral choice in the first place. I don't see evidence of that in Holder's case.

since the administration is in a go after them mode. Ooops, I forgot that is looking backwards.

the day before a dump the US had written Assange stating it was illegal to be in possession of classified material. Mitchell commented it sounded as though they wanted to kind of lay some groundwork to assist in bringing charges.

That's an argument to stop the free press altogether and they know it.

FREE ASSANGE!

that's some f**ked up world we're living in.

fucked up is right.

Including the cyberterrorist scumbags who've been attacking websites in some sort of anarchist attempted takedown of civilization.

Why, civilization almost fell today!!!!! The anarchy can't continue!!!!

If so, that is funny!

I was listening to NPR this afternoon and there was this Clinton hack on. They were having a debate about wikileaks. She kept on saying "anarchist". She said it like 20 times.

The anarchists are coming to get you. Be really scared.

It's 1920 again. It's really, really funny.

I'm not sure I can find the words to explain to people who don't realize how funny it is, how funny it actually is. Me and my wife were listening to her, and cracking up every time she went "anarchists!".

Unless you're a person that's actually scared of "anarchists!". In that case, I feel bad for you...

:)

For starters, prosecute George and Dick, Eric!