DOJ: Aaron Swartz Prosecution Not Political

Official says quote characterizing blog posting by Swartz partner is inaccurate

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/26/2013 4:53:29 PM

A Justice official speaking on background told B&C/Multichannel News that DOJ did not tell congressional investigators that its prosecution of the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz was motivated by politics.

A Huffington Post story reported DOJ had "weighed" Swartz open access manifesto in deciding to prosecute. But while that story reported that Justice had told investigators that the manifesto demonstrated his malicious intent, that was not how it was interpreted by Swartz's partner as reported by the activist group Swartz helped found, Demand Progress.

An email about the blog posting of Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, Swartz's partner, said that she was reacting to the news that "the Department of Justice has told Congressional investigators that Aaron's prosecution was motivated by political views on copyright."

That was not accurate, the DOJ official said when asked about that characterization.

Swartz died of an apparent suicide and some friends and followers blame the DOJ prosecution in part for his death.

Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) asked Justice for the briefing on the reasons for bringing criminal charges against Swartz.