Obama Administration Searches for Way to Arrest Julian Assange

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Tue Nov-30-10 12:14 PM
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Obama Administration Searches for Way to Arrest Julian Assange

Administration Searches for Way to Arrest Julian Assange
By: David Dayen
November 30, 2010

At one level, the United States has responded to the Wikileaks release of State Department cables by tightening their internal operations, basically looking at their own insufficiencies in protecting information. I think they have an unrealistic expectation because of the inherent insecurity of information in a technological age, but at least they�re pointing the finger in the proper direction.

At the other level, the US is straining to find a suitable law with which to charge Julian Assange, who is not an American citizen and who did not engage in this particular practice on American soil.

WikiLeaks founder could be charged under Espionage Act
By Ellen Nakashima and Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writers
November 30, 2010

"Federal authorities are investigating whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange violated criminal laws in the group�s release of government documents, including possible charges under the Espionage Act, sources familiar with the inquiry said Monday.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the Justice Department and Pentagon are conducting �an active, ongoing criminal investigation.� Others familiar with the probe said the FBI is examining everyone who came into possession of the documents, including those who gave the materials to WikiLeaks and also the organization itself. No charges are imminent, the sources said, and it is unclear whether any will be brought."

Holder was asked Monday how the United States could prosecute Assange, who is an Australian citizen. "Let me be very clear," he replied. "It is not saber rattling.

But when it comes to Assange, Jeffrey H. Smith, a former CIA general counsel, said: "I'm confident that the Justice Department is figuring out how to prosecute him."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/29/AR2010112905973.html

This really isn�t much of a case. First off, they�d have to get Assange arrested abroad and extradited to the US, which isn�t terribly likely. In fact, just today Ecuador offered him a home. The US doesn�t seem to have much problem with kidnapping people they don�t like off a foreign street, but that�s approximately what it would take.

Legal experts seem to agree that there�s not much of a case here. That�s why I�m disturbed by these comments from Eric Holder, which sound extremely familiar:

"To the extent there are gaps in our laws," Holder continued, "we will move to close those gaps, which is not to say . . . that anybody at this point, because of their citizenship or their residence, is not a target or a subject of an investigation that's ongoing." He did not indicate that Assange is being investigated for possible violations of the Espionage Act.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/29/AR2010112905973.html

This sounds like a job for John Yoo.

Read the full article at:

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/11/30/administration-searches-for-way-to-arrest-julian-assange/