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In a move that historians may record as among the most audacious and least self-aware complaint of all time, lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have loudly condemned the leaking of secret government documents pertaining to the rape charges against Assange. Swedish police files about the case against Assange were leaked to the Guardian, the same newspaper to which Assange recently leaked thousands of classified U.S. State Department cables.

The lawyers for Assange, who describes himself as an activist for "radical transparency," complain that the leaked police files unfairly damage Assange and make his legal defense more difficult. Assange's representatives are especially angered by what they call the political motivations behind the leak -- the same charge many critics have leveled against WikiLeaks.

The Australian Times reports:

Bjorn Hurtig, Mr Assange's Swedish lawyer, said he would lodge a formal complaint to the authorities and ask them to investigate how such sensitive police material leaked into the public domain. "It is with great concern that I hear about this because it puts Julian and his defence in a bad position," he told a colleague. "I do not like the idea that Julian may be forced into a trial in the media. And I feel especially concerned that he will be presented with the evidence in his own language for the first time when reading the newspaper. I do not know who has given these documents to the media, but the purpose can only be one thing - trying to make Julian look bad."

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum makes an important point:

Julian Assange's lawyers denounce leaks http://bit.ly/gpH455 think we're going to have to rewirte that old joke about chutzpah davidfrum

davidfrum

We also assume that dictionary definitions of "irony" will have to be updated to acknowledge this new high watermark.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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