US government defends tactics in WikiLeaks probe

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Government lawyers are defending tactics that have been used in a criminal investigation of leaks of secret documents by the WikiLeaks website.

The government lawyers made their case to a judge today. Meanwhile, lawyers for three people associated with WikiLeaks asked the judge to rescind an order that demanded information about their Twitter accounts.

The federal judge heard arguments and said she will issue a written order shortly.

The ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are among those representing WikiLeaks associates Birgitta Jonsdottir, Rop Gonggrijp and Jacob Appelbaum. They asked the judge to unseal any orders that may have been sent to websites other than Twitter.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange did not participate in the hearing. The Australian has argued he is not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.