Or the Justice Department could bring a conspiracy charge against Assange under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, if investigators have evidence that Assange incited or aided someone in obtaining the documents illegally. The latter charge would help prosecutors avoid First Amendment issues that come with charging Assange under the Espionage Act.

The Espionage Act, which dates to 1917, has never been successfully used against a media organization, but this doesn’t mean Assange is in the clear. Although in the case of the Pentagon Papers, the most famous case involving the publishing of classified information, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against prior restraint of the New York Times to prevent the paper from publishing the documents, the justices made it clear that federal authorities could still prosecute the Times under the Espionage Act after the newspaper published the documents.

Assange’s attorney, Stephens, told Al Jazeera that he believed the U.S. was waiting for Assange to be extradited to Sweden on a different case to make a formal legal move against his client.

Assange is currently in custody in London awaiting an extradition hearing in a case involving alleged sex crimes in Sweden. The hearing will be held Tuesday. Stephens said it’s his understanding that if Assange is extradited to Sweden, authorities there plan to “defer their interest in him to the Americans,” essentially taking a backseat to any criminal complaint the U.S. has against Assange.

“It does seem to me that what we have here [in Sweden] is nothing more than a holding charge,” Stephens said. The U.S. simply wants Assange detained in whatever way possible so that “ultimately they can get their mitts on him,” he said.

The allegations made by two women in Sweden include one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.

The first complainant, identified by Swedish authorities as “Miss A,” alleged that she was a victim of “unlawful coercion” on August 14 in Stockholm. In that instance, Assange allegedly used his body weight to hold her down so that he could have sex with her.

In the second charge involving sexual molestation, Miss A alleges that Assange had sex with her without wearing a condom, although she had made it her “express wish” that he use one.

The third charge claims that Assange “deliberately molested” Miss A on August 18 “in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity”.

The fourth charge involves a second complainant, identified as “Miss W,” who spent the night with Assange on August 17 and accused him of having sex with her while she slept, without her consent and without wearing a condom.

Swedish authorities issued an arrest warrant for Assange last month in order to bring him in for questioning, though no charges against him have been filed. This was followed by an Interpol “red notice” issued for Assange’s arrest, due to the fact that he was no longer in Sweden.

Assange volunteered last week to surrender at a London police station to answer the warrant. At a court hearing in Westminster he was denied bail and remanded in custody.

Assange reportedly said during his first hearing that he would fight extradition to Sweden.

See also:

• Interpol Issues ‘Red Notice’ for Arrest of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange
• WikiLeaks’ Assange To Meet With U.K. Police Over Swedish Warrant
• WikiLeaks Founder ‘Detained in Absentia’ in Swedish Rape Probe
• U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe

Authors: Kim Zetter

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