WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was charged in a superseding indictment alleging he recruited and conspired with computer hackers, including the notorious groups LulzSec and Anonymous, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday.
The latest indictment does not add any new charges to the 18-count indictment filed last year against Mr. Assange. It does, however, “broaden the scope of the conspiracy surrounding alleged computer intrusions with which Assange was previously charged, the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors say in 2010 Mr. Assange gained unauthorized access to the computer system of an unidentified NATO country. In 2012, he communicated with a leader of the LulzSec, who was an FBI informant, and provided a list of targets for the group to hack, court documents allege.
“With respect to one target, Assange asked the LulzSec leader to look for (and provide to WikiLeaks) mail and documents, databases and pdfs,” prosecutors wrote.
Mr. Assange also told the LulzSec leader that the most impactful release of hacked materials would be from the CIA, NSA or New York Times, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also alleged Mr. Assange obtained and published emails from a data breach against an American intelligence company by a hacker affiliated with Anonymous and LulzSec.
Mr. Assange asked the hacker to span that victim company a second time, according to the indictment.
The department also said the new indictment also broadens the allegations that Mr. Assange conspired with Army Intelligence Analyst Chelsea Manning to crack a password for a U.S. Department of Defense computer.
Mr. Assange was arrested in the United Kingdom last year and remains jailed there. The U.S. is seeking his extradition to face an 18-count indictment filed last year alleging he conspired with Ms. Manning to release thousands of secret military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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