The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice are still pursuing an “ongoing criminal investigation of WikiLeaks,” news outlets reported Thursday, citing a ruling from the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia.
In largely rejecting a Freedom of Information Act request by the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) for information about the government’s surveillance of WikiLeaks supporters, U.S. District Court judge Barbara Rothstein cited (pdf) FBI and Justice Department claims that the disclosure of such information would prejudice a “multi-subject investigation” into the website that is “still active and ongoing.”
Over the five years since WikiLeaks first published a massive cache of U.S. state secrets leaked by former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, there has been significant speculation regarding whether the Justice Department would prosecute the media organization or its founder, Julian Assange.
In 2012, an Australian newspaper reported that a “sealed indictment” existed in the U.S. against Assange, who is currently living in the embassy of Ecuador in London after being granted asylum there that year. In 2013, the website urged the U.S. government “to do the right thing: close the investigation and formally and unequivocally tell WikiLeaks that no charges will be brought.”
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Judge Rothstein accepted 10-month-old claims by the FBI and Justice Department that disclosure of any details about the individuals who had been targeted for surveillance could “expose the scope and methods of the investigation, and tip-off subjects and other persons of investigative interest.”
Observers said the decision highlights the Obama administration’s ongoing hostility toward WikiLeaks specifically and whistleblowers in general.
WikiLeaks’s lawyer, Michael Ratner, told the Guardian that Thursday’s revelations left no doubt about the U.S. government’s intentions.
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