U.S. Says If CIA-Backed Embassy Security Opened Phones Of Assange Visitors, It Was Constitutional

“There are several cases,” U.S. Attorney Jean-David Barnea argued, “that say that by giving your phone to someone else, you have relinquished your expectation of privacy.”

An attorney for the United States government contended CIA-backed contractors had not violated the privacy rights when they allegedly opened the physical structure of cellphones belonging to Americans, who visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the Ecuador embassy in London.

“There are several cases,” U.S. Attorney Jean-David Barnea argued, “that say that by giving your phone to someone else, you have relinquished your expectation of privacy.”

The assertion was made during a remarkable hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 16. The hearing involved argument over a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the CIA and former CIA director Mike Pompeo for their alleged role in spying on Assange visitors that were Americans.

In August 2022, four Americans sued the CIA and Pompeo: Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a civil rights activist and human rights attorney; Deborah Hrbek, a media lawyer who represented Assange or WikiLeaks; journalist John Goetz, who worked for Der Spiegel when the German media organization first partnered with WikiLeaks; and journalist Charles Glass, who wrote articles on Assange for The Intercept.