美国国家公共电台 NPR Key U.S. Attorney, Swept Into Russia Investigation, May Prosecute WikiLeaks Case

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

One of the most intriguing¹ parts of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference involves the role of WikiLeaks. Prosecutors³ are investigating the site, as well as its founder⁴ Julian Assange, who faces a conspiracy⁵ charge. As for the man who will end up prosecuting⁶ this case, NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson says he has quite a backstory at the Justice Department.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE⁷: Zach Terwilliger used to mop the floors and stack boxes in this office of 140 prosecutors; now he's the guy who leads them.

ZACHARY TERWILLIGER: For me, this really is home.

JOHNSON: He grew up around law enforcement - his father was deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, FBI agents attended his family barbecues - but Terwilliger says it was watching the trial of two gang members who stabbed a witness and left her to die on a riverbank that sealed his own fate.

TERWILLIGER: And it was watching what the law could do to achieve justice for that victim and, frankly⁸, watching two people in court, as assistant United States attorneys, who just blew me away. And I just thought, if I'm going to work this hard to study the law and become a lawyer, that's where I want to put my efforts.

JOHNSON: He did - Terwilliger went on to prosecute⁹ gang members himself. Then, at the start of the Trump¹⁰ administration, he moved over to Justice Department headquarters. He expected to be busy. Then the president fired the FBI director. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein - Terwilliger's boss - appointed a special counsel, and Terwilliger spent a lot of nights on his office couch.

TERWILLIGER: Those were 18- to 20-hour days, and I had worked like that in lead up to trials but never in a sustained period, and you just learn to operate at a different level.

JOHNSON: Eventually, Virginia's two Democratic senators recommended Terwilliger to serve as U.S. attorney there; in August 2018, he was sworn in to the historic post. The top federal prosecutor²'s office in Alexandria, Va., dates to 1789. The first U.S. attorney there was John Marshall, who went on to become chief justice of the United States. Neil MacBride was the chief prosecutor in the place he calls EDVA in the Obama years.

NEIL MACBRIDE: EDVA has had a front-row seat in everything from Cold War espionage¹¹ cases to post-9/11 terrorism cases to some of the biggest financial fraud and extraterritorial cases from threats around the world.

JOHNSON: But the case that's getting the most attention these days involves Julian Assange.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was finally holed out by British police from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

JOHNSON: Two weeks ago, American prosecutors finally unsealed their case against Assange; he faces a single charge - conspiracy to commit computer hacking¹². But authorities are continuing to investigate, and they could bring more charges in the coming weeks. Experts say those new charges could cover the disclosure of secret CIA hacking tools or the 2016 election. When I spoke¹³ to Terwilliger, he didn't want to get into specifics.

TERWILLIGER: The Justice Department and Lady Justice herself is patient, so we'll wait and watch this process play out. But I, for one, am happy that it's starting.

JOHNSON: Terwilliger's office has also picked up other offshoots from the special counsel investigation¹⁴ into Russian election interference. He indicted¹⁵ an accountant for the Internet Research Agency - that's the Russian troll farm accused of attacking the 2016 race. The Eastern District of Virginia is also prosecuting former business partners of onetime national security adviser¹⁶ Michael Flynn; that case is set for trial later this year. As for what's next for Zach Terwilliger, he says he can't imagine a better job than the one he has now.

TERWILLIGER: This is a dream come true for me.

JOHNSON: An idea that started in high school, when he was mopping the floors of the office he now runs.

Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

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