Lawsuit against CIA, Pompeo over spying on Assange allies: Filing

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 2022 20:55
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Once again, the CIA crosses the lines in the case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, violating constitutional protections.

Julian Assange speaking from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (Archive)

CIA surveillance of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, while he was taking shelter in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, included recording his conversations with American lawyers, journalists, and doctors, not to mention copying private data from visitors' phones and other devices, in mere violation of constitutional protections.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of four Americans who visited Assange, seeks personal damages from then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo for violating the plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

See more: Julian Assange: a Timeline

It also seeks monetary damages from a Spanish security firm hired to protect the embassy and its CEO, accusing them of abusing their position to illegally spy on visitors and passing on the surveillance data they gathered to the CIA, which is also named as a defendant in the suit.

"Each of the named plaintiffs, and hundreds of others, visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was living under political asylum at the Embassy of the government of Ecuador in London, United Kingdom," the complaint said.

"Prior to their visits each visitor was required to surrender his or her electronic devices, e.g. smartphones, laptops, etc. to employees of Defendant Undercover Global (UC Global)," it added.

UC Global employees copied information stored on the devices of attorneys and journalists who visited Assange without their consent, as per the complaint.

Then, UC Global provided that information to the CIA, which was led at the time by Pompeo, it stressed.

The complaint also included that the actions taken violated the rights of over a hundred US citizens who visited Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

Assange is currently battling his extradition to the United States after UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Washington's request to extradite the journalist despite stark concerns surrounding his safety in the US.