DoJ asking for personal information on Icelandic MP, Birgitta Jónsdóttir

[EFerrari]

First, she tweeted that they asked Twitter for her file. Now, it looks like they want more than that. Here's what Greg Mitchell has up on his blog.



(Read from bottom, up)

4:50 Note on the important DOJ vs. Iceland MP story below: Birgitta Jonsdottir was one of those WikiLeaks backers who -- it's been widely reported -- allegedly had a falling out with Assange. She was particularly active in the Collateral Murder video action. She even took him as her guest to a U.S. Embassy party in Iceland. But she later was upset over Assange's handling of the Afghan war logs which emerged with some key names not redacted. She has since been interviewed by the BBC and U.S. news outlets as a WIkiLeaks dissident. On ABC last month she said she had argued for Assange to step aside as WikiLeaks leader while the sex crime case was ongoing.

4:35 Already an update on the below. Now she tweets: "The request for information from twitter is also for my personal information not just tweets. Calling the justice minister of Iceland now." And: "The request for my tweet information is from the US department of justice" And now: "department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info - i got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over."

4:25 Not sure what to make of this but here goes: Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of the Icelandic parliament (she represents citizens movements), t weeted one hour ago: "just got this: Twitter has received legal process requesting information regarding your Twitter account in (relation to wikileaks)" Then "usa government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. do they realize i am a member of parliament in iceland?" Then: "i think i am being given a message, almost like someone breathing in a phone..." And: "waiting for some legal advice before i will make this a foreign affairs issue."

http://www.thenation.com/blog/157551/wikileaks-news-views-blog-friday-day-41

Sounds like DoJ is trying to isolate a weak link? Or, :shrug:

I hope this means the wars are in hand and bin Laden a second away from being captured.

[Autumn]

1. Personally, I hope she gives them

a great big old fuck you.

[EFerrari]

3. It's thuggery. This is what our "diplomacy" has been reduced to.

I can't help thinking that this kind of thing just further tarnishes the image of America around the world.

[glinda]

17. Wonder if non citizens are looking at us like bullies and over-reaching.

[EFerrari]

21. People all over the world look at us that way. n/t

[glinda]

25. It is frightening to live in this Country. What the hell have we become?

I was so blind not to see this years ago. My dead grand mother who fled Europe and the gas chambers must be crying in her grave.

[Svenno]

40. Don't worry!

Don't worry, USA is a great nation, but with that I mean its citizens and not the corrupt politicians. In Iceland the whole population thought everything was going fine until the economic collapse in 2008 woke us up with a bang resulting in opening a Pandora's box of all sorts of information about the corruption that had been going on over the years that we knew nothing about. No matter what people think of Wikileaks, they helped us seeing the truth behind the scenes and in particular about things that were protected under some stupid banking laws created by corrupt politicians for the sole purpose of hiding their misdemeanors and crimes from ever becoming known to the general public. It seems that to these people crime was not a crime if no-one knew about it or could prove it existed. This seems to be going on in the US at this moment and people need to wake up to this fact.

If you saw an arsonist setting fire to an apartment building you would obviously try to wake the inhabitants up and report the arsonist to the authorities, wouldn't you? If you then find out that the house had been left to burn down and the authorities are not chasing the arsonists but instead chasing the people who reported the crime you would be surprised, wouldn't you? This is how I feel and many other people in Iceland as well.

With kind regards,
Svenno

[EFerrari]

2. Here's a link to a panel she was on with Assange, via Greg Mitchell.

GregMitch Greg Mitchell
RT @MikeInMi Panel with Birgitta Jonsdottir http://bit.ly/a0ckRu She appears with #Assange & speaks on Iceland as press haven

[EFerrari]

4. .

[stevedeshazer]

5. Unbelievable.

+1

What a strange twist in the plot. Or not.

[Ghost Dog]

6. What personal information does twitter hold on users?

[EFerrari]

7. Normal reg stuff. But I wonder if she doesn't mean

the inquiry is not limited to twitter. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

8. Updates on Greg's blog:

8:05 The Iceland MP talks to The Guardian: "Jonsdottir told the Guardian she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. 'The justice department has gone completely over the top,' she said."

7:55 Updates on the case of Iceland MP drawing interest from DOJ for past WikiLeaks association (see bunch of items below): Here are Birgitta Jonsdottir's latest tweets. "I have nothing to hide and have done nothing wrong - i have no intention to hand my information over willingly to DoJ." "thank you ALL for your support, means a lot to me & the next steps in our fight for freedom of information, hoping to get legal advice soon." "if twitter hands over my information - then no ones information is save with twitter." Here's a new Wired story on this.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/157551/wikileaks-news-views-blog-friday-day-41

[Hissyspit]

10. More:

8:05 The Iceland MP talks to The Guardian:  "Jonsdottir told the Guardian she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. 'The justice department has gone completely over the top,' she said."

And now Jacob Appelbaum, recent visitor to Iceland,  tweets:  "Do not send me Direct Messages - My twitter account contents have apparently been invited to the (presumably-Grand Jury) in Alexandria."  And:  "To be directly clear - I hear that my account information has been subpoenaed."

[EFerrari]

11. What we should do is flood that twitter account with support messages.

Make them work for it. :grr:

[sabrina 1]

23. That's a great idea. But it would have to be organized.

Is there a link to the account? I have a feeling that will happen. This sounds like a job for Anonymous!

[sabrina 1]

16. Iceland should register a complaint with the U.N.

I don't think we are very popular there right now, having broken International law by spying on the Sec. Gen.

They should also demand that the EU intervene and stop this harassment of people who have done nothing illegal.

I don't think Bush would have even done this. But then, he would have had to deal with the outrage from the left and civil libertarians. Now, that it's the left doing it, the right is always on board with spying on perceived 'enemies' and their friends, and with assassinating them, there is no one left to be outraged except for that small minority of people whose principles don't change because their party is doing it.

[glinda]

18. Yes. There needs to be an intervention. Anyone who comes here to testify is risking

their life.

[EFerrari]

9. Guardian: US tells Twitter to hand over WikiLeaks supporter's messages

Icelandic MP to fight attempts by the US department of justice to access her private information



Dominic Rushe in New York
The Guardian, Saturday 8 January 2011

A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the "USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?"

She said she was starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages, after being told by Twitter that a subpoena had been issued. She wrote: "department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info – I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over."

She said the justice department was "just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/08/us-twitter-hand-icelandic-wikileaks-messages

What happened to looking forward, Mr. Holder? And where is bin Laden?

[Hissyspit]

13. wikileaks: There are many WikiLeaks supporters listed in the US Twitter subpoena.

[glinda]

19. Is there a link to the subpoena?

[EFerrari]

20. Hissyspit put it up here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x135461

[sabrina 1]

24. How about Karl Rove? Did he ever answer those Congressional

subpoenas?

Maybe she should go hide in Sweden the way Karl did to escape being questioned by Congress? Is that investigation into a REAL crime over?

If Mr. Holder is looking for crimes, he doesn't have to travel to Australia or Iceland.

And btw, does the U.S. DOJ have jurisdiction over a citizen of Iceland? What crime did she commit? This truly is scary, she is right. If they get away with this, it can be done to anyone, without cause.

[EFerrari]

12. Wikileaks tweets with #doublestandards tag

wikileaks WikiLeaks
If the Iranian govt asked for DMs of Iranian activists, State Dept would be all over this violation of "Internet freedom" #doublestandards

I hope #doublestandards gets very active.

[Gravel Democrat]

22. That is one damn....

fine point.



Which will go largely ignored.

But not by all!

[gateley]

14. K&R. Cheney would be proud. nt

[EFerrari]

15. DOJ subpoeanas Twitter records of numerous WikiLeaks volunteers

Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir -- a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament -- announced on Twitter that she had been notified by Twitter that the DOJ had served a Subpoena on Twitter demanding information "about all my tweets and more since November 1st 2009." Several news outlets, including The Guardian, wrote about Jónsdóttir's announcement.

What hasn't been reported is that the Subpoena served on Twitter -- which was ordered by a federal court -- seeks the same information for numerous other individuals once associated with WikiLeaks, including Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gongrijp, and Julian Assange. It also seeks the same information for Bradley Manning.

The information demanded by the DOJ is sweeping in scope. It includes all mailing addresses and billing information known for the user, all connection records and session times, all IP addresses used to access Twitter, all known email accounts, as well as the "means and source of payment," including banking records and credit cards. A copy of the Subpoena served on Twitter is here.

The Subpoena was court ordered, signed by a federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, Theresa Buchanan. It states that there is "reasonable ground to believe that the records or other information sought are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation." It was issued on December 14 and ordered sealed -- i.e., kept secret from the targets of the Order. On January 5, the same judge ordered the subpoena unsealed at Twitter's request in order to inform the users of the Subpoena and give them 10 days to object; had Twitter not so requested, it could have turned over this information without the knowledge of its users. A copy of the unsealing order is here.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/01/07/twitter/index.html

[Luminous Animal]

27. [H]ad Twitter not so requested, it could have turned over this information without the knowledge

of its users.

Good for Twitter.

[EFerrari]

36. Yep, Twitter did the right thing. Wikileaks has now challenged

Google and Facebook to unseal their subpoenas, too.

[TheMadMonk]

26. Inneresting init. Wrongdoing Americans (esp corps) do their wrong...

...elsewhere to avoid the long arm of the American law. America uses the "based in America" dodge, to bring those entirely outside their jurisdiction within their reach, as they are attempting to do here.

[Svenno]

28. DoJ asking for personal information on Icelandic MP, Birgitta Jónsdóttir

Hi! I am an Icelandic citizen. I was listening to the news and reading this article in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/08/us-twitter-hand-icelandic-wikileaks-messages). I find this absolutely shocking!!! Birgitta Jónsdóttir aided Wikileaks in giving us proof of a cold blooded murder committed by the US military helicopter crew that shot dead two Reuters reporters in Iraq. (See e.g.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/206184-Collateral-Murder-WikiLeaks-video-from-US-helicopter-gunship-reveals-glimpse-of-slaughterfest-in-Iraq). But instead of investigating the criminal offenses of the US military the US authorities seem to be only concerned about who was leaking the information. Is it not the duty of any civilian to report crimes? In my opinion and in the opinion of 99% of the population in Iceland it was very obviously the duty to report these horrible crimes! The US Justice Department should be investigating these crimes and they should be thanking and praising the people who reported the instead of treating them like criminals. I grew up thinking that the USA were the leaders of the democratic free world. Now I am sorry to say that I see little difference between the USA and China. The only difference is that China is not two-faced about it pretending to be better than they are. Just like China the US tries hard to cover up the truth.

[EFerrari]

31. Hi there, Svenno and welcome to DU

:hi:

[Svenno]

35. Thank you!! I love this discussion group. I am just a little rusty on how this works ;)

[EFerrari]

37. It will come back to you.

:)

[Svenno]

29. An Icelandic response

Hi! I am an Icelandic citizen. I was listening to the news and reading this article in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/08/us-twitter-... ). I find this absolutely shocking!!! Birgitta Jónsdóttir aided Wikileaks in giving us proof of a cold blooded murder committed by the US military helicopter crew that shot dead two Reuters reporters in Iraq. (See e.g.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/206184-Collateral-Mur... ). But instead of investigating the criminal offenses of the US military the US authorities seem to be only concerned about who was leaking the information. Is it not the duty of any civilian to report crimes? In my opinion and in the opinion of 99% of the population in Iceland it was very obviously the duty to report these horrible crimes! The US Justice Department should be investigating these crimes and they should be thanking and praising the people who reported the instead of treating them like criminals. I grew up thinking that the USA were the leaders of the democratic free world. Now I am sorry to say that I see little difference between the USA and China. The only difference is that China is not two-faced about it pretending to be better than they are. Just like China the US tries hard to cover up the truth.

[WinkyDink]

32. Oh, someone in the DoJ is very much going to RUE this move. THIS will bring EVERYTHING to the

fore.

[Svenno]

33. Sorry, but what does RUE mean?

[WinkyDink]

34. Regret. IOW: This might be the international incident that breaks the back of secrecy.

[WinkyDink]

30. TIME's Person of the Year: Twitter Founder Zuckerberg. Nothing to see here, folks.

[Robb]

38. Zuckerberg founded Facebook. nt

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

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