Assange Indictment – If There Is One – to Remain Under Wraps

(Bloomberg) -- If there’s a secret indictment in the U.S. against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, it’ll remain under wraps.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press failed to persuade a judge to unseal criminal charges the group says pertain to Assange. The judge said it’s not clear an “Assange” prosecutors mistakenly mentioned in a seemingly unrelated U.S. court filing, is the same person as the WikiLeaks founder.

The trouble began for prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, in August when they twice made reference to somebody with that surname in asking a federal magistrate judge to seal a criminal complaint in a child sex case involving another man.

The government had considered less drastic alternatives to sealing, they said in their Aug. 22 filing in the other man’s case, but concluded none would be sufficient to protect the probe and needs of law enforcement.

"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," they said. A page later, they added, that documents in the case “would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested."

Assange -- the WikiLeaks founder -- has been holed up at the Ecuadoran embassy in London since seeking asylum from potential criminal charges more than six years ago. The U.S. has never confirmed that it has indicted or otherwise filed charges against the Australian native.

The prosecutors’ admitted gaffe was discovered in November by George Washington University professor Seamus Hughes, prompting press reports and the Reporters’ Committee petition to unseal charges they argued pertained to the WikiLeaks’ founder. Prosecutors opposed the request.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, rejected the committee’s request. Acknowledging the public’s right to know if charges had been filed and the government’s asserted need for secrecy before an arrest is made, Brinkema said the committee’s claims were premature until it’s clear Assange has actually been charged.

Assange made news last week without being expressly identified in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of Roger Stone. President Donald Trump’s former political adviser was charged with lying to Congress about his efforts to learn what damaging information WikiLeaks and Assange may have had about Hillary Clinton and her campaign, and when it would be released.

Stone has pleaded not guilty.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider

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