Feds Subpoena Twitter Seeking Information on Ex-WikiLeaks Volunteer

The U.S. Justice Department has served Twitter with a subpoena seeking information on an Icelandic lawmaker who has worked with WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, the lawmaker told Threat Level on Friday.

“I got the letter from Twitter a couple of hours ago, saying I got 10 days to stop it,” wrote Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament, in an e-mail. “Looking for legal ways to do it. Will be talking to lawyers from EFF tonight.”

EFF refers to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit civil liberties group in the United States.

On her Twitter feed, Jonsdottir said the government is seeking an archive of tweets she sent out since Nov. 1, 2009 as well as “personal information” for her account.

Josdottir told Threat Level that the request was filed by the Justice Department on December 14 inU.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. This is the same jurisdiction where, according to previous press reports, a federal grand jury is investigating possible charges against Assange, with whom Jonsdottir has worked closely.

Jonsdottir has been a strong supporter of WikiLeaks and became a volunteer with the organization last March to help edit and publish a classified U.S. Army video that the site published last April. The video showed a U.S. gunship in Iraq shooting and killing civilians.

She later parted with the group after Assange became the subject of a sex-crime investigation in Sweden. She argued that Assange should take a less public role until the case wasresolved — a view Assange did not share.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is suspected of leaking the Army video to WikiLeaks earlier this year. In chats with former hacker Adrian Lamo, who turned him in to authorities, Manning indicated that he had first contacted WikiLeaks sometime in late November 2009. This corresponds with the time period mentioned in the government’s request for Jonsdottir’s tweet history.

Jonsdottir was instrumental in getting the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative passed in Iceland’s parliament that supports creating legislation to make Iceland a legal haven for journalists and media outlets.

Photo: Fririk Tryggvason, via Wikimedia Commons

See Also:

• U.S. Trying to Build Conspiracy Case Against WikiLeaks' Assange
• Another Hacker's Laptop, Cellphones Searched at Border
• Friend of Accused WikiLeaks Source Detained at Border
• U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in Wikileaks Video Probe