CIA spying on Assange “illegally” swept up US attorneys, journalists: Lawsuit.

 Newsweek SHAUN WATERMAN ON 8/15/22 CIA surveillance of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange whereas he was sheltering within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London included recording his conversations with American attorneys, journalists and medical doctors, and copying personal information from guests’ telephones and different gadgets, violating constitutional protections, based on a lawsuit filed Monday.

The swimsuit – filed on behalf of 4 Americans who visited Assange – seeks damages personally from then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo for violating the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights in opposition to unreasonable search and seizure. The swimsuit additionally seeks damages in opposition to a Spanish safety agency contracted to guard the embassy, and its CEO, alleging that they abused their place to illegally spy on guests and handed on the surveillance information they collected to the CIA, which can also be named a defendant within the swimsuit.

Legal consultants, together with a former senior intelligence official, advised Newsweek that the allegations within the lawsuit, if confirmed, present the CIA crossed strains drawn to guard American residents from surveillance by overzealous intelligence businesses………………………………………………..

The swimsuit cites proof gathered in a preliminary prison inquiry by the Spanish High Court, launched after whistleblowers got here ahead from the Spanish agency employed to offer bodily safety for the embassy. The agency and its CEO are beneath investigation for alleged violations of Assange’s privateness and the confidentiality of communications together with his attorneys – each of that are assured by EU legislation.

The plaintiffs within the U.S. swimsuit – filed in federal District Court in New York – are two New York attorneys on the Assange worldwide authorized staff and two American journalists who interviewed him. A U.S. physician who carried out medical interviews with Assange about his psychological state selected to not be part of the lawsuit however advised Newsweek he was subjected to the identical surveillance. The surveillance additionally swept up visits from a U.S congressman and celebrities resembling mannequin and activist Pamela Anderson.

“As a criminal attorney, I don’t think that there’s anything worse than your opposition listening in on what your plans are, what you intend to do, on your conversations. It’s a terrible thing,” mentioned the lead plaintiff, lawyer Margaret Kunstler, a member of Assange’s U.S. authorized staff. “It’s gross misconduct,” she added, “I don’t understand how the CIA … could think that they could do this. It’s so outrageous that it’s beyond my comprehension.”

New York-based lawyer Richard Roth, who filed the swimsuit, mentioned, “This was outrageous and inappropriate conduct by the government. It violated the most profound privacy rights” of the plaintiffs and others who visited Assange within the embassy.

And the violation is worse, Roth added, as a result of it included “conversations of an absolutely privileged and confidential nature,” resembling these together with his attorneys, and the “theft of data” from gadgets owned by individuals resembling journalists and medical doctors who rely on confidential relationships with their sources and sufferers.

“All my conversations with Julian Assange were covered by doctor-patient confidentiality,” mentioned Sean Love, a doctor and college member at Johns Hopkins, who visited Assange twice in 2017 to conduct a examine of the results of his confinement on his bodily and psychological well being………………………………

The privateness of different American guests not get together to the lawsuit was additionally violated, based on copies of surveillance materials turned over to the Spanish court docket and reviewed by Newsweek. Every customer had their passport photocopied and most appear to have their telephones photographed. Among the guests topic to surveillance was then-California GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who was attempting to barter a deal for a presidential pardon for Assange. .Washington Post reporter Ellen Nakashima’s cellphone was photographed and an in depth written account of her go to (revealing that she eliminated the battery from her cellphone earlier than handing it over) was ready by embassy safety guards. Anderson’s passwords for her e-mail and different accounts have been included in surveillance pictures allegedly despatched to the CIA, based on disclosures by Spanish whistleblowers.

Email messages despatched to Anderson’s basis requesting remark weren’t returned.

Apart from the constitutional violations in opposition to Americans swept up within the surveillance, the sheer magnitude and sensitivity of the fabric obtained by U.S. authorities could make it not possible for Assange to get a good trial, Roth mentioned. In addition to the surveillance, after the Ecuadorian authorities allowed British police to enter the embassy and arrest Assange, it publicly turned over all his authorized papers and laptop gear to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“When a federal prosecutor comes after a lawyer with a search warrant and seizes their devices, there are multiple layers of review and protection for privileged lawyer-client communications,” Roth mentioned. The court docket may appoint a particular grasp – sometimes a retired choose or a senior lawyer impartial of the federal government – to supervise the method and be sure that privileged communications have been segregated from these collected for the prosecution.

“None of that happened here. They just grabbed everything.”

…………………………………………………………………………………. Anyone who visited was required to depart their telephones and different digital gadgets with safety guards on the embassy, based on the lawsuit.

“Julian’s visitors weren’t allowed to bring their devices into the embassy, nothing that could photograph or record or connect to the Internet,” WikiLeaks media lawyer Deborah Hrbek, the opposite lawyer suing, advised Newsweek. “We turned them over to the security guards. We thought they were embassy personnel. We believed it was a measure to protect Julian.”

In reality, the guards have been contractors, working for the Spanish personal safety agency UnderCover Global. Engaged by the Ecuadorian authorities to offer safety for the embassy and its long run houseguest, UC Global in 2017 started secretly additionally working for U.S. intelligence, based on the lawsuit, citing proof compiled by the Audiencia National, the Spanish High Court.

UC Global CEO David Morales returned from a Las Vegas safety conference in early 2017, telling colleagues they have been now working “in the big leagues,” “for the dark side,” and with “our American friends,” based on whistleblower testimony from former UC Global staff. The testimony says it turned clear over the next weeks and months that he was being paid substantial sums of cash to share surveillance information with the CIA…………………………………………………………………………………….

The swimsuit is directed in opposition to Pompeo personally as a result of U.S. legislation and the Constitution make it troublesome to sue government department businesses for damages, mentioned Robert Boyle, a constitutional legislation lawyer who consulted with Roth on the swimsuit.

A 1971 Supreme Court judgment “made it possible to personally sue government officials for violations of certain constitutional rights,” he mentioned……………………………………………

The surveillance revealed by the Spanish courts was seemingly “the tip of the iceberg,” mentioned lead plaintiff Kunstler. “We happen to have discovered that. Who knows what else they were up to?”

 https://www.newsweek.com/cia-spying-assange-illegally-swept-us-lawyers-journalists-lawsuit-1731570—

August 17, 2022 –

Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Legal, secrets and techniques,lies and civil liberties, USA