CIA, Pompeo Sued by Julian Assange Lawyers, Journalists Over Alleged Spying at Ecuadorian Embassy

The CIA and its former Director Mike Pompeo have been sued by a group of journalists and lawyers who claim the agency spied on them when they visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange while he was living inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

The lawsuit, which also names Spanish security firm Undercover Global as a defendant, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Aug. 15.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include journalists Charles Glass and John Goetz and attorneys Margaret Kunstler and Deborah Hrbek, who have represented Assange.

They argue that the agency violated their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

“The United States Constitution shields American citizens from U.S. government overreach even when the activities take place in a foreign embassy in a foreign country,” said Richard Roth, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs.

According to the suit, the plaintiffs were required to surrender their electronic devices to Undercover Global prior to visiting Assange at the embassy between January 2017 and March 2018.

The lawsuit claims that “unbeknownst to each of the visitors” and “without their consent” Undercover Global, acting without the knowledge of the Ecuadorian government, swept information on their electronic devices, including communications with Assange, and provided it to the CIA, which was then headed by Pompeo.

Plaintiffs say the sweeping of the data from phones was authorized and approved by Pompeo.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van, after he was arrested by British police, in London on April 11, 2019. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters) ‘Extensive Surveillance Program’

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the CIA approved and Undercover Global implemented an “extensive surveillance program” in the embassy through which they placed microphones around the building that converted video surveillance of Assange to audio-video surveillance. It also claims those recordings were handed to the CIA and “ensured that the CIA

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