»-.J
INTHEUNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURT
FOR
THEEASTERNDISTRICTOFVIRGINIA
AlexandriaDivisionUNITEDSTATES
OFAMERICA
V
JULIAN
PAUL
ASSANGE
Defendant
•I
Case
No
17-MJ-611^
iled
Under
Seal
AFFIDAVIT
INSUPPORT
OF
A
CRIMINALCOMPLAINT
AND
ARREST
WARRANT
1.I,MeganBrown,makethisaffidavitinsupport
of
acriminalcomplaintchargingthedefendant,JulianP.Assange,withviolating18U.S.C.§371byconspiringto 1)accessa
computer,withoutauthorizationandexceedingauthorizedaccess,toobtainclassifiednational
defenseinformationinviolation
of
18U.S.C.§1030 a) 1);and 2)accessacomputer,without
authorizationandexceedingauthorizedaccess,toobtaininformationfromadepartmentor
agency
of
theUnitedStatesinfurtherance
of
acriminalactinviolation
of
18U.S.C.§
1030 a) 2), c) 2) B) ii).
2.IamaSpecialAgentwiththeFederalBureau
of
Investigation FBI)andhave
beensoemployedsinceFebruary2011.SincejoiningtheFBI,Ihaveinvestigatedviolations
of
federallawinvolvingcounterterrorismandcounterintelligencematters,andIhavegainedexperiencethroughtrainingandeverydayworkrelatedtoconductingthesetypes
of
investigations.SinceFebruary2017,1havebeenassignedtoaCounterespionagesquadatthe
WashingtonFieldOfficeinWashington,D.C.Inthiscapacity,Iinvestigatemattersinvolving
allegations
of
espionage,aswellastheunauthorizeddisclosure
of
classifiedinformation,and
relatedcrimes.AsaSpecialAgentwiththeFBI,Ihavereceivedclassroomandon-the-job
1
Case 1:18-cr-00111-CMH Document 2 Filed 12/21/17 Page 1 of 40 PageID# 2
trainingingenerallawenforcementandalsoinsuchspecializedareasascounterintelligence
counterterrorism andinvestigation
of
espionage relatedcrimes.Ihaveparticipatedinfederal multi jurisdictional andinternationalinvestigationsinvolvingnationalsecuritymatters
conductedphysicalandelectronicsurveillance executedsearchwarrants anddebriefed
witnessesandparticipantstounlawfulactivityrelatedtothesematters.Through
my
investigations Ihavegainedknowledgeintheuse
of
variousinvestigativetechniquesincluding
theutilization
of
Rule41searchwarrants subpoenas nationalsecurityletters physicaland
electronicsurveillance trashcovers andothersophisticatedinvestigativetechniques.Asafederalagent Iamauthorizedtoinvestigateviolations
of
thelaws
of
theUnitedStates.Ihave
investigatedcriminalviolationsrelatingtoespionageandtheunauthorizeddisclosure
of
classifiedinformation includingviolationsrelatedtotheillegalpossession distribution and/or
receipt
of
classifiedinformation andrelatedcrimes inviolation
of
18U.S.C.§§793 794 1030
and1924.Ialsoamauthorizedtoexecutewarrantsissuedundertheauthority
of
theUnited
States andIhaveparticipatedinarrestwarrantsandsearchwarrantsinmycapacityasanFBI
SpecialAgent.
3.
he
factsinthisAffidavitare
b sed
on
my
personalobservations information
obtained
i om
otheragentsandwitnesses mytrainingandexperience and
my
review
of
records
reports articles andwebsites.Unlessotherwisenoted informationprovidedtomebyotherlaw
enforcementpersonneldoesnotnecessarilyreflectmypersonalobservationsorinvestigation butratherhasbeenpassedtomebyindividualswithfirst handknowledge.ThisAffidavitdoesnot
setforthall
of
my
knowledgeaboutthismatter
but
isintendedmerelytoestablishprobablecauseforthecriminalcomplaint.
Case 1:18-cr-00111-CMH Document 2 Filed 12/21/17 Page 2 of 40 PageID# 3
4.Asshownbelow,theconspiratorstookelaboratemeasurestoconcealtheir
communications,masktheiridentities,anddestroyanytrace
of
theirconduct,using,for
example,encryptionandanonymizationtechniques,anderasingandwipingdata.Forthisreason,thefactsarederivedinlargepartfromforensicanalysis
of
availablecomputerdata,
remnants,
or
unalterablesystems.
SUMM RY
PRO LEC USE
5.Thesechargesrelatetoone
of
thelargestcompromises
of
classifiedinformation
inthehistory
of
theUnitedStates.BetweeninoraroundJanuary2010and
May
2010,Chelsea
Manning, an
intelligence
analyst
inthe
U.S.
Army downloaded
four
nearly
complete
and
largelyclassifieddatabaseswithapproximately90,000Afghanistanwar-relatedsignificant
activityreports,400,000Iraqwar-relatedsignificantactivityreports,800Guantanamo
ay
detaineeassessments,
and
250,000U.S.StateDepartmentcables.Manningprovidedthese
recordstoWikiLeaks,awebsitefoundedandledbythedefendant,JulianP.Assange.Onits
website,WikiLeaksexpresslysolicitedclassifiedinformationforpublicdissemination.
WikiLeakspubliclyreleasedthevastmajority
of
theclassifiedrecordsonitswebsitein2010and
2011.Manninghassincebeentriedandconvictedbycourt-martialforherillegalactsintransmittingtheinformationtoWikiLeaks.
6.Thechargesinthiscriminalcomplaintfocusonaspecificillegalagreementthat
AssangeandManningreachedinfurtherance
of
Manning sillegaldisclosure
of
classifiedinformation.Asexplainedbelow,investigatorshaverecoveredInternet chats between
Manning
usedthename BradleyE.Manning atthetimeofthe
events
atissueinthis
Affidavit.Accordingtoastatement
fi om
Manning sattorneypublishedonoraroundAugust22,2013,Manninghasidentifiedasafemalesincechildhoodandwaschanging
her
nameto ChelseaManning. Asaresult,IrefertoManningusing
her
currentname
and
thefemale
gender.
Case 1:18-cr-00111-CMH Document 2 Filed 12/21/17 Page 3 of 40 PageID# 4
