Jolt in WikiLeaks Case: Feds Found Manning-Assange Chat Logs on Laptop

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/12/manning-assange-laptop/

By Kim Zetter
Threat Level
Wired.com
December 19, 2011

A government digital forensic expert examing the computer of accused 
WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning retrieved communications between 
Manning and an online chat user identified on Manning’s computer as 
“Julian Assange,” the name of the founder of the secret-spilling site 
that published hundreds of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables.

Investigators also found an Icelandic phone number for Assange, and a 
chat with a hacker located in the U.S., in which Manning says he’s 
responsible for the leaking of the “Collateral Murder” Apache helicopter 
video released by WikiLeaks in spring 2010.

Until Monday’s revelation, there have been no reports that the 
government had evidence linking Manning and Assange, other than chat 
logs provided to the FBI by hacker Adrian Lamo last year. Assange is 
being investigated by a federal grand jury, but has not been charged 
with any crime, since publishing classified information is not generally 
considered a crime in the U.S. But if prosecutors could show that 
Assange directed Manning in leaking government documents that he then 
published, this could complicate Assange’s defense that WikiLeaks is 
simply a journalistic endeavor.

The news of the chat logs between Manning and Assange came on the fourth 
day of Manning’s pre-trial hearing being held to determine whether he’ll 
face court martial on 22 charges of violating military law for allegedly 
abusing his position as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in order to feed 
a treasure trove of classified and sensitive documents to WikiLeaks.

[...]

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