New WikiLeaks Order Shows Probe Is Ongoing

(CN) - Documents subpoenaed from the WikiLeaks Twitter account will remain under seal to preserve an ongoing criminal investigation, a federal judge ruled.

The documents have been under seal since a magistrate judge ordered Twitter to disclose its records from the official accounts of WikiLeaks and three WikiLeaks supporters, Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of the Icelandic parliament; Jacob Appelbaum, a computer security researcher who represented WikiLeaks at a 2010 hackers conference in New York; and Rop Gonggrijp, a Dutch activist and computer security expert.

U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady in Alexandria, Va., refused to quash the order.

"There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in IP addressing information," O'Grady wrote in January 2012. "If petitioners do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in IP addressing information, there would be no reason to require a warrant based on probable cause or to complain that the Twitter order was constitutionally overbroad."

Confirming the grand jury investigation of WikiLeaks in a two-page order last week, O'Grady ensured that the Twitter documents will remain under seal.

"For the reasons stated in the memorandum of the United States, unsealing of the documents at this time would damage an ongoing criminal investigation," O'Grady wrote.

To date, Pfc. Bradley Manning remains the sole individual facing charges over his alleged support of WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, remains at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he fled to escape questioning in Sweden regarding allegations of sexual misconduct.

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