Julian Assange Has Been Charged According to Justice Department Filing

(Daily Beast) An obscure sex-crime case may have just revealed a groundbreaking moment for the intersecting worlds of press freedom espionage and the Trump-Russia case: sealed federal criminal charges against WikiLeaks Julian Assange. An August filing by the Justice Department in a case involving a Washington D.C.-area man Seitu Sulayman Kokayi accidentally names the founder of the anti-secrecy group in two paragraphs reporting that a federal criminal complaint has been lodged against him in secrecya development long feared by Assange and his allies. The Justice Department conceded to The Daily Beast and other outlets that Assanges name was in the document as a result of an error but answered no further questions about the apparent charges against Assange. The slip-up was first spotted by Seamus Hughes a terrorism analyst at George Washington University who was closely following the case and flagged the passage on Twitter: You guys should read EDVA court filings more cheaper than a Journal subscription pic.twitter.com/YULeeQphmd Seamus Hughes (@SeamusHughes) November 16 2018 On Aug. 22 Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer filed a motion to temporarily seal Kokayis charges pending his arrest which occurred the next day Aug. 23. At first Dwyers filing understandably argues that disclosure would jeopardize Kokayis arrest. It proceeds to argue that redacting parts of the document would be insufficient to mitigate the potential harm. But then the attorney makes an accidental declaration. 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" Dwyer wrote. Read More