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24-01-2021

Secret Warrants for 'All Emails' and Metadata of WikiLeaks Supporter Reveal Far-Reaching State Power


Nearly 500 search and seizure warrants were executed as part of the Mueller investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Some of those warrants were for the electronic data belonging to a graphic designer, that contained 'gag orders' preventing Google and Microsoft from informing him that his data had been handed over.

Sputnik News, 22nd January 2021

Somerset Bean is a British graphic designer who works with whistleblowers, journalists and activists.
Bean (who prefers to be referred to by his pseudonym) discovered in 2019 that Google was served with a warrant by former special prosecutor Robert Mueller for the "contents and metadata of all emails" associated with his account, back in 2018.

A 'gag order' within the warrant prevented Google from informing Bean that the warrant had been served. More than one year later, in January 2021, Bean was notified of another warrant that was served for more his digital records, this time from Microsoft.

 

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