United States v. Julian Paul Assange: 18-count superseding indictment (May 2019)

The superseding indictment against me, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia on 23 May 2019, expanded the case from a single computer-intrusion conspiracy to 18 counts. Counts 1 to 17 were brought under 18 U.S.C. § 793, part of the Espionage Act: conspiracy to receive national defence information (count 1), obtaining national defence information (counts 2–8) and disclosing it (counts 9–17). Count 18 charged conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.

It alleged that I and WikiLeaks had solicited classified material, including through a published 'Most Wanted Leaks' list; that Manning provided the Afghanistan and Iraq war reports, Guantánamo assessments, State Department cables and Iraq rules of engagement; and that I had published documents containing the unredacted names of people who had given information to US forces and diplomats. Counts 15 to 17 concerned that publication. Each Espionage Act count carried a maximum of ten years' imprisonment, and count 18 five years.

On 24 June 2020 a grand jury returned a second superseding indictment against me. It added no counts but broadened the alleged computer-intrusion conspiracy to include the recruitment of hackers, citing contacts with members of LulzSec and Anonymous. The extradition proceedings in London were conducted on the basis of the second superseding indictment.

The US Department of Justice published the superseding indictment with a press release on 23 May 2019. The charges were never tried: in June 2024 I pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count in a separate case in the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States agreed to dismiss the Virginia indictment.