US Justice Dept Subpoenas Twitter for Info on Wikileaks Volunteer

World • Views: 41,391

Today the US Justice Department subpoenaed Twitter for the account information of an Icelandic politician who worked as a volunteer with Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

“I got the letter from Twitter a couple of hours ago, saying I got 10 days to stop it,” wrote Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament, in an e-mail. “Looking for legal ways to do it. Will be talking to lawyers from EFF tonight.”

EFF refers to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit civil liberties group in the United States.

On her Twitter feed, Jonsdottir said the government is seeking an archive of tweets she sent out since Nov. 1, 2009 as well as “personal information” for her account.

Josdottir told Threat Level that the request was filed by the Justice Department on December 14 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. This is the same jurisdiction where, according to previous press reports, a federal grand jury is investigating possible charges against Assange, with whom Jonsdottir has worked closely.

They’re looking for connections and evidence to prove that Bradley Manning and Julian Assange collaborated to steal the classified documents.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is suspected of leaking the Army video to WikiLeaks earlier this year. In chats with former hacker Adrian Lamo, who turned him in to authorities, Manning indicated that he had first contacted WikiLeaks sometime in late November 2009. This corresponds with the time period mentioned in the government’s request for Jonsdottir’s tweet history.

UPDATE at 1/7/11 6:14:31 pm:

Boing Boing has more: US subpoenas Twitter for accounts of two Wikileaks volunteers.

The U.S. Justice Department has apparently served Twitter with subpoenas related to a case involving Wikileaks and Bradley Manning. One of these involves Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament who has worked with WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.

The other is Wikileaks volunteer Jake Appelbaum, according to a statement published by Appelbaum on Twitter today.

A Twitter spokesperson tells Boing Boing the company will not comment on specific legal requests, “But, to help users protect their rights, it’s our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so. We outline this policy in our law enforcement guidelines.”

Jump to bottom

23 comments
1 Killgore Trout  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:26:24pm

I suppose the politician would have some sort of immunity and extradition would be next to impossible but I hope the find some clues to nail Assange.

2 BryanS  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:28:12pm

Let's hope the US builds a good case to hold ASSange responsible for the harm he has done. I also hope the US does everything on the up and up so we can avoid ASSange playing the martyr card.

3 Varek Raith  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:32:30pm

I wonder...
Did no one who volunteered and/or work for wikileaks not think it would come back and bite them on the asses?

4 Killgore Trout  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:34:18pm

re: #3 Varek Raith

I wonder...
Did no one who volunteered and/or work for wikileaks not think it would come back and bite them on the asses?

Wikileaks and their apologists seem to have some pretty nutty ideas. They probably thought that nobody would dare mess with them because of mass uprisings or something.

5 researchok  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:35:29pm

re: #4 Killgore Trout

Wikileaks and their apologists seem to have some pretty nutty ideas. They probably thought that nobody would dare mess with them because of mass uprisings or something.

Or, they thought they would be heralded as heroes.

Morons.

6 WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.]  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:36:18pm

hey, so let's end this ridiculous fiction that dennis prager was a swell guy before recently, huh?


[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

7 jaunte  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:36:55pm

It's a race:

Jonsdottir was instrumental in getting the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative passed in Iceland’s parliament that supports creating legislation to make Iceland a legal haven for journalists and media outlets.


From Wikipedia:

The proposal passed on 16 June was not a piece of final legislation. Instead, it began a process of editing 13 separate laws according to the proposal's specifications. This process is expected to be completed around June 2011.

8 Walter L. Newton  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:37:43pm

I don't bother with other blogs, so, I ask this question in all honesty. Is Barrett Brown still haunted his usual places, or has he slipped out of view?

9 Walter L. Newton  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:37:59pm

re: #8 Walter L. Newton

I don't bother with other blogs, so, I ask this question in all honesty. Is Barrett Brown still haunted his usual places, or has he slipped out of view?

Haunting.

10 Killgore Trout  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:43:36pm

re: #6 WindUpBird

hey, so let's end this ridiculous fiction that dennis prager was a swell guy before recently, huh?

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

I'll give you an upding. I never payed enough attention to him to form an opinion one way or the other.

11 bratwurst  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:44:41pm

re: #10 Killgore Trout

I'll give you an upding. I never payed enough attention to him to form an opinion one way or the other.

You and millions of others.

12 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:46:46pm

re: #8 Walter L. Newton

If you're asking me, I don't know. He creeped me out when he threatened to release private emails just because his Vanity Fair author's ego was wounded by some Internet critics, and I won't be communicating with him any more for obvious reasons.

I don't know why anyone would trust him in anything, after that.

13 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:47:49pm

re: #6 WindUpBird

hey, so let's end this ridiculous fiction that dennis prager was a swell guy before recently, huh?

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

It's the Dennis Prager Trilogy.

I wasn't aware of his anti-gay writing in the 90s, but I'm not surprised.

14 albusteve  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:48:11pm

re: #11 bratwurst

You and millions of others.

trying to figure out why I should care what Prager has to say....there are thousands/millions like him....he's just another set of moving lips

15 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:51:21pm

I arranged the Dennis Prager Trilogy in the Featured Pages section, earliest to most recent.

16 bratwurst  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 5:54:39pm

re: #14 albusteve

trying to figure out why I should care what Prager has to say...there are thousands/millions like him...he's just another set of moving lips

You shouldn't. The only guys lower than him in the right wing pundit food chain are the redundantly named pair of Lars Larson and Hugh Hewitt.

17 OIFVet  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 6:22:58pm

re: #5 researchok

Or, they thought they would be heralded as heroes.

Morons.

Berkley thought he was.

[Link: www.telegraph.co.uk...]

(I don't know how accurate this is, and can't find follow up details if they ever did)

18 [deleted]  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 6:25:31pm
19 reine.de.tout  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 6:30:13pm

re: #4 Killgore Trout

Wikileaks and their apologists seem to have some pretty nutty ideas. They probably thought that nobody would dare mess with them because of mass uprisings or something.

re: #5 researchok

Or, they thought they would be heralded as heroes.

Morons.

OR, they thought their natural superiority to the rest of us would shine through so brightly, no one would question them.

20 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 6:47:21pm

re: #19 reine.de.tout

OR, they thought their natural superiority to the rest of us would shine through so brightly, no one would question them.

No one would, or at least they thought no one should. Considering the attitudes and reactions to criticisms that some of the apologists have displayed on the subject, I'd say you're assessment is certainly close to the truth.

21 fire at night  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 9:46:55pm

re: #3 Varek Raith

I think it is a balance many in that organization hold with personal ideals vs reality. The idealism blinds the consequences or reality or what implications or harm they potentially cause. I believe it (wikileaks) has a place and serves a purpose, but if you play with fire like classified materials, you are going to get burned. Badly.

If members or reps from that entity fail to realize that, then they have what is coming to them. They are going to get heat from multiple agencies and international interests that want to protect what they are working on, or with when sensitive leaks are exposed. With Assange at the helm (a glorified AW in his own right), they were bound to make a reckless decision that laid it all on the table. Assange views his organization as a model for transparency and accountability, while it is readily apparent he would rather play the role of an international attention seeking information and power broker. This will cost him.

It is readily apparent what his game is, and what he truly wants, and that leads him and his enterprise just as vulnerable to queries and laws in place when he releases bits and details of sensitive info. His "people" will ultimately be held to the skillet for their part in his own quest for arrogance and unwarranted self-importance, and rightfully so.

22 Velvet Elvis  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 10:53:45pm

I don't think they are going to find anything indicating Assange coaxed or helped Manning in any way.

1. Assange is too smart for that.
2. Wikileaks is probably approached by people all the time claiming to have info on the Vatican secret archive and when it's uploaded it turns out to be 10k copies of the goatsie pic. Assange had no reason to believe Manning was credible until he had the goods in his possession.
3. Even if he assumed manning was telling the truth, Assange likely never saw this as any different than any other leaks he'd published in the past and didn't realize what he had with a lot of it until the media made a big deal over it. As has often been commented, a lot of what he published is just really boring housekeeping type stuff. Why would he think anyone would care if he published that?

23 srjh  Fri, Jan 7, 2011 11:24:24pm

I have to admire Twitter's policy of informing the users where allowable. Makes you wonder how many requests Facebook and Google are getting and not telling anyone about.

If they end up finding proof that Manning and Assange conspired together I'll be more supportive of U.S. attempts to extradite him (still unlikely to succeed, though), but that's an enormous if.


This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh
Texas County at Center of Border Fight Is Overwhelmed by Migrant Deaths EAGLE PASS, Tex. - The undertaker lighted a cigarette and held it between his latex-gloved fingers as he stood over the bloated body bag lying in the bed of his battered pickup truck. The woman had been fished out ...
Cheechako
3 days ago
Views: 152 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 1