Feds want Twitter data for WikiLeaks probe

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. prosecutors fired the first legal shot in their probe of WikiLeaks, seeking personal information from Twitter accounts of people tied to the investigation.

Defense lawyers in Tuesday's hearing in Alexandria, Va., argued before U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa Carroll Buchanan that she should overturn her December ruling in which she ordered Twitter, a microblog, to disclose its clients' data, and unseal other documents in the case, including prosecutors' requests for information from other technology companies, The Washington Post reported.

Court documents indicate the government sought personal Twitter information from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private suspected of providing classified material to the Web site; Birgitta Jonsdottir, a former WikiLeaks activist and a lawmaker in Iceland; and two computer programmers, Dutch citizen Rop Gonggrijp and U.S. citizen Jacob Appelbaum.

Defendants' lawyers argued that the data, such as screen names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers and financial information, are protected by the First Amendment. Prosecutors countered that the request is a routine part of their criminal investigation of WikiLeaks founder Assange and others suspected of disclosing thousands of U.S. diplomatic and military documents on the anti-secrecy Web site.

John Keker, an attorney representing one of the Twitter clients, said the user data would provide the government a pathway of people tied to WikiLeaks and create a chilling effect for online free speech.

John Davis, an assistant U.S. attorney in Alexandria, said the government's request was a routine "investigative measure used in criminal investigations every day of the year all over the country. This is not about association rights. It is not about politics. It is about facts and evidence."

Buchanan said she would take the case "under consideration," the Post said, and is expected to issue a written order and opinion.