As expected, EDVA rolled out a bunch more charges, under the Espionage Act, against Julian Assange. I’m going to do a follow-up post on how stupid the way they’ve done this is, but first wanted to lay out the charges.
The indictment charges Assange with 17 new counts (in addition to the single CFAA charge they’ve already charged him with, which is now Count 18).
- Count 1: Conspiracy to Obtain, Receive, and Disclose National Defense Information (18 USC §793(g)
- Count 15: Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information — informants in Afghan Significant Activity Reports (18 USC §793(e))
- Count 16: Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information — informants in Iraq Significant Activity Reports (18 USC §793(e))
- Count 17: Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information –informants in State Department Cables (18 USC §793(e))
- Count 18: Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusion (18 USC §641, 793(c) and 793(e)
Then there are a set of throw-everything-at-the-wall charges that charges Manning giving three sets of files — the Detainee Assessment Briefs, the State Department Cables, and the Iraq Rules of Engagement — to Assange in four different ways.
The attempt, Count 5, is related to the files Chelsea Manning would have gotten had the password crack been successful.
So effectively, there are three main sets of documents, the Gitmo Detainee Assessment Briefs, the State Department Cables, and the Iraq Rules of engagement, for which EDVA has charged Assange for causing Manning to obtain them, Assange obtaining them himself, causing Manning to disclose documents she had legal access to to Assange, and causing Manning to disclose documents she had unauthorized possession of to Assange. (It’s worth noting that three of these four steps are replicated in the existing Joshua Schulte indictment.)
Then there are three sets of informants that Assange disclosed — those not redacted in the Afghan Significant Activity Reports, those not redacted in the Iraq Significant Activity Reports, and those not redacted in the State Department cables.
Then there are the two charges associated with what Manning would have gotten had Assange succeeded in cracking that password — the CFAA charge and the attempt to obtain charge.
Finally, there’s an overriding conspiracy.